46 Bible Verses about Freedom, Acts Of In Ot

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of slavery.

That was for the LORD a night of vigil to bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night belongs to the LORD, and is to be a vigil for all the Israelis from generation to generation.

So Moses and Aaron addressed the entire congregation of the Israelis: "This evening you will know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt,

"Then I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and you came to the Sea, and the Egyptians followed your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Reed Sea.

the LORD sent a man who was a prophet to the Israelis and told them, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "I was the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, delivering you from the house of servitude.

"""Are you going to build a house for me to inhabit? After all, I haven't lived in a house since the day I brought up the Israelis from Egypt until now. Instead, I've moved around in a tent that served as my dwelling place.

"From the day I brought out my people Israel from Egypt I never chose a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple where my name might reside. I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.'

They will answer, "Because they abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors, who brought them from the land of Egypt, adopted other gods, worshipped them, and served them, therefore the LORD has brought all of this disaster on them.'"

You uprooted a vine from Egypt, and drove out nations to transplant it.

"They didn't ask, "Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through the land of desert and pits, through the land of dryness and deep darkness, a land that people don't pass through, and where no one lives?'

which I commanded to your ancestors on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace. I said, "Obey me and do everything that I commanded you. Then you will be my people and I'll be your God.'

"Yet I remain the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again, as in the festival of that name.

Furthermore, I brought you up from the land of Egypt, leading you in the wilderness for 40 years, to take possession of the land of the Amorites.

For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and ransomed you from the house of slavery, sending Moses, Aaron, and Miriam into your presence.

"My Spirit continues to dwell among you, according to the covenant I established when you came out from Egypt. Don't be afraid!'

It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors at the time when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. Because they did not remain loyal to my covenant, I ignored them, declares the Lord.

Strengthen the feeble hands, and support the stumbling knees. Say to those with anxious hearts, "Be strong, do not be afraid! Here is your God he will bring vengeance, he will bring divine retribution, and he will save you.' "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unblocked;read more.
then the lame will leap like deer, and the tongues of speechless people will sing for joy. Yes, waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will run through the desert; the burning sands will become a pool, and the thirsty ground fountains of water. In the haunts of jackals there will be a verdant resting place with reeds and rushes." "A highway will be there yes, there and people will call it "The Holy Way'. As for unclean people, they will not journey on it, but it will be for whomever is traveling on that Way not even fools will get lost. No lions will be there no nor will any ferocious beasts get up on it, and they will not be found there. "But the redeemed will walk there, and the LORD's ransomed ones will return and enter Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will rest upon their heads, gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and mourning will flee away."

This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I will send to Babylon, and bring them all down as fugitives. Now as for the Babylonians, their ringing cry will become lamentation. I am the LORD, your Holy One, Creator of Israel, and your King." This is what the LORD says who makes a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,read more.
who brings out chariots and horsemen, and armies and warriors at the same time. They lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a candle: "Don't remember the former things; don't dwell on things past. Watch! I'm about to carry out something new! And now it's springing up don't you recognize it? I'm making a way in the wilderness and paths in the desert. Wild animals, jackals, and owls will honor me because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wilderness to give drink to my people, my chosen ones, the people whom I formed for myself and so that they may speak my praise." "And yet you didn't call upon me, Jacob; indeed, you are tired of me, Israel! You haven't brought me your sheep for a burnt offering, nor have you honored me with your sacrifices, nor have you made meal offerings for me yet I have not tired you about incense! You haven't bought me sweet cane with money, nor have you satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. You have only burdened me with your sins and made me tired with your iniquities. "I, I am the one who blots out your transgression for my own sake, and I'll remember your sins no more. Recount the brief! Let's argue the matter together; Present your case, so that you may be proved right. Your first ancestor sinned, and your mediators rebelled against me. So I'll disgrace the leaders of the Temple, and I'll consign Jacob to total destruction and Israel to contempt. "But now listen, Jacob my servant and Israel whom I have chosen: This what the LORD says, the one who made you, formed you from the womb, and who will help you: "Don't be afraid, Jacob my servant, and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I'll pour water upon thirsty ground and streams on parched land. So will I pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing upon your descendants. They'll spring up as among the green grass, like willows by flowing streams. One will say, "I belong to the LORD,' and another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will have written on his hand, "the LORD's,' and will adopt the name of Israel." This is what the LORD says, the King of Israel and its Redeemer the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name "I am the first and I am the last, and apart from me there is no God. Who is like me? Let him proclaim and declare it, and lay it out for himself since he made an ancient people. And let him speak future events; let them tell him what will happen. Don't tremble, and don't be afraid. Didn't I tell you and announce it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? There is no other Rock I don't know of any." Now, all the forming of images means nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their own witnesses cannot see, and they know nothing. So they will be put to shame. Who would shape a god or cast an image that profits nothing? To be sure, all who associate with it will be put to shame; and as for the craftsmen, they are only human. Let them all gather together and take their stand. Then let them be terrified they will be humiliated together. The blacksmith prepares a tool and works in the coals, then fashions an idol with hammers, working by the strength of his arm. He even becomes hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures it with a line; he traces its shape with a stylus, then fashions it with planes and shapes it with a compass. He makes the idol like a human figure, with human beauty, to be at home in a shrine. He cuts down cedars, or chooses a cypress tree or an oak, and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. Or he plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow. He divides it up for people to burn. Taking part of it, he warms himself, makes a fire, and bakes bread. Or perhaps he constructs a god and worships it. He makes it an idol and bows down to it. Half the wood he burns in the fire, and over that half he places meat so he can eat. He sits by its coals, warms himself, and says, "Ah! I am warm in front of the fire." And the rest of it he makes into a god. To blocks of wood he bows down, worships, prays, and says, "Save me, since you are my god."

"This what the LORD says: "I'll answer you in a time of favor, and on a day of salvation I'll help you. I have watched over you, and given you as a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to reassign the inheritances that have been devastated; saying to captives, "Come out!' and to those who are in darkness, "Be free!' "They will feed on all the mountains, and their pasture will be on all the barren hills. They won't hunger or thirst, nor will the desert heat or sun beat upon them; for the one who has compassion on them will drive them and guide them alongside springs of water.read more.
I'll turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways will be raised up. "Watch! They'll come from far away some from the north and from the west, and others from the region of China." Shout with joy, you heavens, and rock with glee, you earth! Break out in song, you mountains! The LORD is comforting his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. "But Zion said, "The LORD has abandoned me, and my God has forgotten me.' "Can a woman forget her nursing child, or have no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these mothers may forget; But as for me, I'll never forget you! Look! I've inscribed you on the palms of my hands, and your walls are forever before me. Your builders are working faster than your destroyers, and those who devastated you go away from you. Lift up your eyes and look around they have all gathered together and are coming to you. "As surely as I live," says the LORD, "you will clothe yourself with all of them like ornaments, and tie them on like a bride. Indeed, your ruins, your desolate places, and your devastated land will now be too crowded for your inhabitants, while those who swallowed you up will be far away. "The children who are grieving at present will yet say in your hearing, "This place is too crowded for me; make room for me, so I may have a place to live.' Then you'll ask in your heart, "Who bore these children for me, although I was childless and barren, and an exile and cast aside? Who brought these up? Look! For my part I was left all alone; but as for these, where have they come from?' "For this what the LORD says, "Watch! I'll lift up my hand to the nations and raise my banner to the nations. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.' "Oh, yes! Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens will be your nursing mothers. They will bow to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed. "Can they seize plunder from warriors, or can the captives of tyrants be rescued? But this is what the LORD says: "He will seize even the warriors' plunder, and the captives of tyrants will be rescued. I myself will quarrel with those who have a quarrel with you, and I myself will save your children. "I'll make those who mistreat you eat their own flesh, and they will get drunk on their own blood, as with new wine. "Then all mankind will know that I am the LORD your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

This is what your Lord, the LORD, says, your God, who defends his people's cause: "See, I have taken from your hand the cup that made you stagger. And you will never again drink to the dregs the cup that is my anger. But I will put it into the hands of those who tormented and oppressed you, those who said to you, "Lie down, so we can step over you,' so that you had to make your back like the ground, and like a street for them to walk over." Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for the uncircumcised and the unclean won't enter you.read more.
Shake yourself from the dust and arise, and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem! Loosen the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For this is what the LORD says: "You were sold for nothing, and you'll be redeemed without money." For this is what the LORD says: "My people went down long ago into Egypt to live there; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause. "Now therefore, what am I doing here," asks the LORD, "seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Those who rule over them are deluded," says the LORD, "and continuously, all the day long, my name is blasphemed. Therefore my people will know my name; in that day they'll know that it is I who speaks, "Here I am!' "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the one who brings news of peace, who announces good things, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!' Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for they will see in plain sight the return of the LORD to Zion with compassion. "Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted his people, and he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. "Depart! Depart! Go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD. For you won't go out in haste, nor will you go in flight; for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. He is called the God of all the earth." "Look! My servant will prosper, and he will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high. Just as many were astonished at you so was he marred in his appearance, more than any human, and his form beyond that of human semblance so will he startle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths at him; for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand. "Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender plant, and like a root out of a dry ground; he had no form and he had no majesty that we should look at him, and there is no attractiveness that we should desire him. "He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, intimately familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces; and we despised him and did not value him. "Surely he has borne our sufferings and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him stricken, and struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that made us whole was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, each of us, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he didn't open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. "From detention and judgment he was taken away and who can even think about his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living, he was stricken for the transgression of my people. Then they made his grave with the wicked, and with rich people in his death, although he had committed no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth." "Yet the LORD was willing to crush him, and he made him suffer. Although you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring, and he will prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will triumph in his hand. Out of the suffering of his soul he will see light and find satisfaction. And through his knowledge his servant, the righteous one, will make many righteous, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he carried the sins of many, and made intercession for their transgressions." "Sing, you barren woman, even the one who never bore a child! Burst into song and shout for joy, even you who were never in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married," says the LORD. "Enlarge the location of your tent, let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched wide, and don't hold back. Lengthen your cords; strengthen your stakes.

"Sing, you barren woman, even the one who never bore a child! Burst into song and shout for joy, even you who were never in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married," says the LORD. "Enlarge the location of your tent, let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched wide, and don't hold back. Lengthen your cords; strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right hand and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will populate the deserted towns.read more.
"Don't be afraid, because you won't be ashamed; don't fear shame, for you won't be humiliated because you will forget the disgrace of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name, and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of the whole earth. For the LORD has called you back like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like the wife of a man's youth when she is cast off," says the LORD your God. "For a brief moment I abandoned you; but I'll gather you with great compassion. I hid my face from you for a moment in a surge of anger, but I will have compassion on you with my everlasting gracious love," says the LORD your Redeemer. "For this is like the waters of Noah to me, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again spread over the earth; so have I sworn that I won't be angry with you again and that I won't rebuke you. For the mountains may collapse and the hills may reel, but my gracious love will not depart from you, neither will my covenant of peace totter," says the LORD, who has compassion on you. "O afflicted one, passed back and forth, and not comforted, Look! I am about to set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. And I'll make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. Then all your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children's prosperity. "In righteousness you'll be established; you will be far from tyranny, for you won't be afraid, and from terror, for it won't come near you. Watch! If anyone does attack you, it will not be from me; whoever may attack you will fall because of you. Look! It is I who have created the blacksmith who fans coals in the fire, and produces a weapon for his purpose. It is I who have created the ravager to wreak havoc; no weapon that is forged against you will be effective. This is the heritage of the LORD's servants, and their righteousness from me," says the LORD.

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed and to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who grieve in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of despair." "Then people will call them "Oaks of Righteousness", "The Planting of the LORD", in order to display his splendor.read more.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will build again the ruined cities, they will build again the places devastated for many generations. Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will work your land and dress your vines. But as for you, you will be called priests of the LORD, and you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of the nations, and you will boast about their riches. Instead of your shame you will receive double, and instead of disgrace people will shout with joy over your inheritance; therefore you will inherit a double portion in their land; everlasting joy will be yours." "For I, the LORD, love justice, and I hate robbery and iniquity; I will faithfully present your reward and make an everlasting covenant with you. Your offspring will be known among the nations, and your descendants among the people. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed." "I will heartily rejoice in the LORD, my soul will delight in my God; for he has wrapped me in garments of salvation; he has arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, just like a bridegroom, like a priest with a garland, and like a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For just as the soil brings forth its shoots, and as a garden makes what is sown within it spring up, so the LORD God will make righteousness and praise spring up before all the nations for Zion's sake." "And I won't remain silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I won't stay quiet, until her vindication shines out like brightness, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and people will call you by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. And you'll no longer be called "Deserted,' and your land will no longer be called "Desolate'; but people will call you "Hephzibah,' and your land "Beulah' for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married." "For just as a young man marries a maiden, so your sons will marry you; and just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you. "Upon your walls, Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; all day and all night they won't remain silent. You who make mention of the LORD, take no rest, and give him no rest until he prepares, establishes and makes Jerusalem a song of praise throughout the earth. "The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: "I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies; never again will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have toiled; but surely those who harvest it will eat it and praise the name of the LORD, and those who gather it will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary,' says your God." "Pass through the gates! prepare the way for the people! Build up! Build up the highway! Clear it of stumbling stones, speak among the nations. Here is the LORD! Proclaim to the ends of the earth, say to the inhabitants of Zion: "See, your salvation is coming! See, his reward is with him, and his recompenses are before him.' People will call them, "The Holy People,' "The Redeemed of the LORD'; and they will call you, "Sought After,' "The City Not Deserted.'" "Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, in garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in such splendor, marching in his great might? It is I, speaking in vindication, mighty to save. "Why is your clothing red, and your garments like those worn by the ones who tread in the winepress? "I have trodden the winepress alone, and from my people no one was with me, I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and I stained all my clothing. "For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year for my redeeming work had come. I looked, but there was no helper, I was appalled that there was no one to give support; so my own arm brought me victory, and as for my wrath, it supported me. I trampled people in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and I poured out their lifeblood on the ground." I will recount the gracious deeds of the LORD, the praiseworthy acts of the LORD, according to all the LORD has done for us yes, the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his gracious love. For he said, "Surely they are my people, children who won't act falsely." And so he became their savior. In all their distress he wasn't distressed, but the angel of his presence saved them; in his acts of love and in his acts of pity he redeemed them; he carried them and lifted them up all the days of old. Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; so he changed and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them. Then they remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is the one who brought up out of the sea the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who put his Holy Spirit among them, and who made his glorious arm march at Moses' right hand, who divided the waters in front of them to win an everlasting name, who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the open desert, they did not stumble; like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. For you led your people, to win for yourself a glorious name. Look down from heaven, and see from your holy and glorious dwelling. Where are your zeal and your might? Where are the yearning of your heart and your compassion? They are held back from me. But you are our Father, even Abraham does not know us and Israel has not acknowledged us; you are he, O LORD, our Father, from long ago, "Our Redeemer' is your name. Why, LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts, so that we do not fear you? Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage. Your holy people took possession for a little while, but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary. For a long time we have been those you do not rule, those who are not called by your name. If only you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence just as fire sets twigs ablaze and the fire causes water to boil to make known your name to your enemies, yes, to your enemies before you, so that the nations might quake at your presence! When you did awesome deeds that we expected, you came down, and the mountains shuddered before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, and no ear has perceived, and no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the aid of those who gladly do what's right, To those who remember you in your ways. See, you were angry, and we sinned against them for a long time, but we will be saved. All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy rag; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our iniquities sweep us away. There is no one who calls on your name or rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have given us into the control of our iniquity. But as for you, O LORD, you are our Father; and we are clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hands. Don't be angry beyond measure, LORD, and don't remember our iniquity for a season. Please look now, we are all your people. Your holy cities have become a desert; Zion has become like a desert, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy Temple and our splendor, where our ancestors praised you, have become a conflagration of fire, and all our dearest places have become ruins. LORD, after all this, can you hold yourself back? Can you keep silent and punish us so severely? "I let myself be sought by those who didn't ask for me; I let myself be found by those who didn't seek me. I said, "Here I am! Here I am!' to a nation that didn't call on my name. I held out my hands all day long to a disobedient people, who walk in a way that isn't good, following their own inclinations a people who continually provoke me to my face; they keep sacrificing in gardens and waving their hands over stone altars; who sit among graves, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pigs' meat, with the broth of detestable things in their pots; who say, "Keep to yourself!' "Don't touch me!' and "I am too holy for you!' "Such people are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all day long. Watch out! It stands written before me: "I won't keep silent, but I will pay back in full; I'll indeed repay into their laps both your iniquities and your ancestors' iniquities together,'' says the LORD. "Because they offered incense on the mountains and insulted me on hills, I'll measure into their laps full payment for their earlier actions." This is what the LORD says: "Just as new wine is found in the cluster, and people have said, "Don't destroy it, for there is a gift in it,' so I'll act for my servants' sake, by not destroying them all.

I'm going to remove you from the nations, gather you from all of the territories, and bring you all back to your own land. I'll sprinkle pure water on you all, and you'll be cleansed from your impurity and from all of your idols." """I'm going to give you a new heart, and I'm going to give you a new spirit within all of your deepest parts. I'll remove that rock-hard heart of yours and replace it with one that's sensitive to me. read more.
I'll place my spirit within you, empowering you to live according to my regulations and to keep my just decrees. You'll live in the land that I gave to your ancestors, you'll be my people, and I will be your God. In addition, I'll deliver you from everything that makes you unclean. I'll call out to the grain you plant, ordering it to produce abundant yields, and I will never bring famine in your direction. I'll increase the yields of your fruit trees and crops so that you'll never again experience the disgrace of famine that occurs in other nations. Then you'll remember your lifestyles and practices that were not good. You'll hate yourselves as you look at your own iniquities and loathsome practices. I won't be doing any of this for your sake," declares the Lord GOD, "so keep that in mind. Be ashamed and frustrated because of your behavior, you house of Israel!"'" "This is what the Lord GOD says: "At the same time that I cleanse you from all of your guilt, I'll make your cities become inhabited again and the desolate wastelands will be rebuilt. The desolate fields will be cultivated, replacing the former wasteland that everyone who passed by in times past had noticed. They will say, "This wasteland has become like the garden of Eden, and what used to be desolate ruins are now fortified and inhabited." Then the surviving people that live around you will learn that I, the LORD, have rebuilt these ruins and have cultivated these pastures that used to be desolate wastelands. I, the LORD, have spoken this, and I'm going to bring it about!'

A message came to me from the LORD, and this is what it was: "Now as for you, Son of Man, grab a stick of wood for yourself and write on it these words: "FOR JUDAH AND THE ISRAELIS, HIS COMPANIONS' "Then grab another stick and write on it: "FOR JOSEPH, THE STICK OF EPHRAIM, AND ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, HIS COMPANIONS' "Then join them together end-to-end so that they become a single baton in your hand. read more.
When the descendants of your people ask you, "Would you please explain to us what you mean by this?' you are to tell them, "This is what the LORD says: "Watch me! I'm taking the baton that represents Joseph, which Ephraim is holding in his hand, along with his companions the tribes of Israel, and I'm going to join them with the baton that represents Judah. I'm making them a single baton, that is, a complete baton in my hand." "The batons on which you engrave your writing are to remain right in front of them in your hand. Then tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch me take the Israelis out of the nations where they've gone and return them from every direction. I'm going to bring them back into their own land. I'm going to make them a united people in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and I'll set a single king to rule over them. They'll never again be two separate people. They'll never again be divided into two kingdoms. They will never again defile themselves with their idols, with other loathsome things, or with any of their sins. Instead, I will deliver them from all of the places where they have sinned, and then I'll cleanse them. They will be my people and I will be their God."'" """My servant King David will be there for them, and one shepherd will be appointed for them. They will live according to my decrees, keep my regulations, and practice them. They will live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob and on which your ancestors lived. They will live in that land, along with their children and grandchildren, forever. David my servant will be their everlasting leader. I'll make a secure covenant with them, one that will last forever. I will establish them, make them increase in population, and will place my sanctuary in their midst forever. I will pitch my tent among them and will be their God. They will be my people, and the nations will learn that I, the LORD, am the sanctifier of Israel when I place my sanctuary in their midst forever."'"

"When a fellow Hebrew male or female slave is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you are to set them free. But when you set them free, don't send them away empty-handed. Provide for them liberally from your flock, threshing floor, and wine vat. As the LORD your God has blessed you, so give to them. read more.
Don't ever forget that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, yet the LORD your God redeemed you. Therefore, I'm giving you these commands today.

Set aside and consecrate the fiftieth year to declare liberty throughout the land for all of its inhabitants. It is to be a jubilee for you. Every person is to return to his own land that he has inherited. Likewise, every person is to return to his tribe.

"You saw what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God."

"I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt, and you have known no god except for me, because except for me there is no savior.

Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain: "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and declare to the sons of Israel, "You saw what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. And now if you carefully obey me and keep my covenant, you are to be my special possession out of all the nations, because the whole earth belongs to me, read more.
but you are to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation to me.' These are the words you are to declare to the Israelis."

because the Israelis are my servants. They're my servants, since I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God."

the people whom I formed for myself and so that they may speak my praise."

I am the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You are to be holy, because I am holy.

"The LORD will assign you to be a holy people for himself, just as he promised you, as long as you keep his commands and walk in his ways. "Then all the people of the earth will observe that the name of the LORDis proclaimed among you, and they will fear you.

so I have come down to deliver them from their domination by the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the territory of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

and attempted to reason with the entire congregation of Israel. They told them, "The land that we went through and explored is very, very good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he'll bring us into this land and give it to us. It flows with milk and honey.

because the LORD your God is bringing you to a good land a land with rivers and deep springs flowing to the valleys and hills. It's a land filled with wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates. It's a land filled with olive oil and honey a land without scarcity. You'll eat food in it and lack nothing. It's a land where its rocks are iron and you can dig copper from its mountains."

That day I promised to bring them out of the land of Egypt to the land that I had explored for them a land flowing with milk and honey. It's the most beautiful of all lands.

And you are to tell your child on that day, "This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' It is to be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead, so that you may speak about the instruction of the LORD; for the LORD brought you out of Egypt with a strong show of force. You are to keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year."

"The LORD will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You'll go out against them in one direction, but you'll flee from them in seven directions. Consequently, you'll be in a state of great terror throughout all the kingdoms of the earth.

So in his burning anger against Israel, the LORD gave them into the domination of marauders who plundered them. The enemies who surrounded the Israelis controlled them, and they were no longer able to withstand their adversaries.

The Israelis kept on practicing evil in full view of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served Canaanite male and female deities. Then in his burning anger against Israel, the LORD delivered them to domination by King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim. So the Israelis served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.

After Ehud died, while the LORD was watching, the Israelis made the evil they had been practicing even worse, so the LORD turned them over to domination by King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commanding officer of his army, lived in Harosheth-haggoyim.

Later on, the Israelis practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, so the LORD handed them over to the domination of Midian for seven years.

As a result, during the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and took the Israelis off to Assyria, placing them in Halah, along the Habor River in Gozan, and in cities ruled by the Medes. This happened because the Israelis had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt and from the domination of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, because they were fearing other gods, and because they were following the rules of the nations whom the LORD had expelled before the Israelis and that the kings of Israel had practiced.read more.
The Israelis practiced secret things that were not right, offending the LORD their God. In addition, they built high places for use by all their towns, watchtowers, and fortified cities. They set up pillars and Asherim on every high hill and in the shade of every green tree, where they made offerings on all the high places, as did the nations whom the LORD had expelled before them. They also practiced other wickedness, provoking the LORD to become angry, and they served idols, a practice that the LORD had warned them, "You are not to do this." Nevertheless, the LORD had warned both Israel and Judah by means of every prophet and seer: "Turn away from your evil practices and keep my commandments and statutes according to the entire Law that I gave your ancestors and that I sent to you through my servants, the prophets." But they would not listen. Instead, they were stubborn, just like their ancestors had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. They rejected the LORD's statutes, the covenant that he had made with their ancestors, and his warnings that he gave them. They pursued meaninglessness and became meaningless themselves as they followed the lifestyles of the nations that surrounded them, a practice that the LORD had warned them not to do. They abandoned all of the commands given by the LORD their God, crafted for themselves cast images of two calves, constructed an Asherah, worshipped all of the stars in heaven, and served Baal. They passed their sons and daughters through fire, practiced divination, cast spells, and sold themselves to practice what the LORD considered to be evil, thereby provoking him. As a result, the LORD was angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. No one was left except for the tribe of Judah. But Judah, too, did not keep the commands of the LORD their God. Instead, they lived the lifestyle that Israel had chosen, so the LORD rejected all of the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and handed them over to the control of plunderers until he had thrown them away from his presence. He ripped them away from the heritage of David, even as the people appointed Nebat's son Jeroboam to be king. Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and made them commit great sin. The Israelis practiced all the sins that Jeroboam had practiced, and never wavered from them until the LORD removed Israel from his presence, just as he had warned through all of his prophets who served him. So Israel was carried off into exile from their own land into Assyria, where they remain to this day.

There we sat down and cried by the rivers of Babylon as we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung our harps, for it was there that our captors asked us for songs and our torturers demanded joy from us, "Sing us one of the songs about Zion!"read more.
How are we to sing the song of the LORD on foreign soil?