'One' in the Bible

For, behold, I will call all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north,” says the Lord; “and they will come and each one will set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its surrounding walls, and against all the cities of Judah [as My judicial act, the consequence of Judah’s deliberate disobedience].

‘Return, O faithless children [of the twelve tribes],’ says the Lord,‘For I am a master and husband to you,And I will take you [not as a nation, but individually]—one from a city and two from a [tribal] family—And I will bring you to Zion.’

“Circumcise (dedicate, sanctify) yourselves to the LordAnd remove the foreskin [sins] of your heart,Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,Or else My wrath will go forth like fire [consuming all that gets in its way]And burn and there will be no one to quench it,Because of the evil of your acts.”

News of one [terrible] disaster comes close after another,For the whole land is devastated;Suddenly my tents are spoiled and destroyed,My [tent] curtains [ruined] in a moment.

And you, O desolate one, what will you do?Though you clothe yourself in scarlet,Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,Though you enlarge your eyes with paint,You make yourself beautiful in vain.Your lovers (allies) despise you;They seek your life.

For I heard a cry like a woman in labor,The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,The cry of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), who gasps for breath,Who stretches out her hands, saying,“Woe is me [my judgment comes]! I faint [in fear] before the murderers.”

“Roam back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem,And look now and take note.And look in her open squaresTo see if you can find a man [as Abraham sought in Sodom],One who is just, who [has integrity and moral courage and] seeks truth (faithfulness);Then I will pardon Jerusalem—[for the sake of one uncompromisingly righteous person].

“They were like well-fed, lusty stallions,Each one neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

“I will destroy the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), the lovely and delicate one [so like a luxurious pasture].

“Shepherds with their flocks will come against her;They will pitch their tents all around her;They will pasture, each one in his place [eating up all her rich grasses].

“They seize bow and spear;They are cruel and inhuman and have no mercy.Their voice sounds like the roaring sea;They ride [in formation] on horses,Arrayed as a man for battleAgainst you, O Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)!”

Do they offend and provoke Me to anger?” says the Lord. “Is it not themselves [they offend], to their own shame?”

“Moreover [Jeremiah], you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord,“Do men fall and not rise up again?Does one turn away [from God] and not repent and return [to Him]?

“Let everyone beware of his neighborAnd do not trust any brother.For every brother is a supplanter [like Jacob, a deceiver, ready to grab his brother’s heel],And every neighbor goes around as a slanderer.

“Everyone deceives and mocks his neighborAnd does not speak the truth.They have taught their tongue to speak lies;They exhaust themselves with sin and cruelty.

“Their tongue is a murderous arrow;It speaks deceit;With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor,But in his heart he lays traps and waits in ambush for him.

“I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains,And a [funeral] dirge for the pastures of the wilderness,Because they are burned up and desolated so that no one passes through [them];Nor can anyone hear the lowing of cattle.Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they are gone.

Who is the wise man who may understand this [without any doubt]? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, so that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

Now hear the word of the Lord, O you women,And let your ear hear the word of His mouth;Teach your daughters a song of mourning,And each one [teach] her neighbor a dirge.

For the customs and decrees of the peoples are [mere] delusion [exercises in futility];It is only wood which one cuts from the forest [to make a god],The work of the hands of the craftsman with the axe or cutting tool.

My tent is destroyed,And all my [tent] cords are broken;My children have been taken from me [as captives] and are no more.There is no one to stretch out my tent againAnd to set up my [tent] curtains.

“Destroyers have comeOn all the caravan roads in the desert,For the sword of the Lord (Babylon) is devouringFrom one end of the land even to the other;No one has peace or a way of escape.

I will smash them one against another, both the fathers and the sons together,” says the Lord. “I shall destroy them [nothing will restrain Me]; I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion.”’”

The cities of the South (the Negev) have been closed up,And there is no one to open them;All Judah has been carried into exile,Completely carried away into exile.

and because you have done worse [things] than your fathers. Just look, every one of you walks in the stubbornness of his own evil heart, so that you do not listen [obediently] to Me.

But if you will not listen to Me and keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load as you come in the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in her gates that cannot be extinguished, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”’”

At one moment I might [suddenly] speak concerning a nation or kingdom, that I will uproot and break down and destroy;

Now then, say to the men of Judah and to the citizens of Jerusalem, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am shaping a disaster and working out a plan against you. Turn back, each of you from his evil way; correct your habits and change your actions for the better.”’

And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and each one will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and distress brought by their enemies and those who seek their lives.”’

and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “This is the way I will break this people and this city as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it cannot be mended. They will bury [corpses] in Topheth until there is no more room left [in that place] to bury [the dead].

But the Lord is with me as a dread champion [one to be greatly feared];Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not overcome [me].They will be completely shamed, for they have not acted wisely and have failed [in their schemes];Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

“Is this man [King] Coniah a despised, broken jar?Is he a vessel in which no one takes pleasure?Why are he and his [royal] descendants hurled outAnd cast into a land which they do not know or understand?

Therefore behold (hear this), I am against the [counterfeit] prophets,” says the Lord, “[I am descending on them with punishment, these prophets] who steal My words from one another [imitating the words of the true prophets].

[For the future, in speaking of the words of the Lord] thus each of you shall say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’

One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are the first to ripen; but the other basket had very bad figs, so rotten that they could not be eaten.

saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way and the evil of your actions [that you may not forfeit the right to] live in the land that the Lord has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever;

all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another—and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. And the king of Sheshach (Babylon) shall drink after them.

“And those slain by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. They will not be lamented (mourned over with expressions of grief) or gathered or buried; they will be like dung on the ground.

In the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and the fifth month, the [false] prophet Hananiah the son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon [one of the priests’ cities], spoke [without godly authority] to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying:

because they have acted foolishly in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and in My Name have spoken false and concocted words, which I did not command them. I am He who knows and I am a witness,” says the Lord.’”

‘Therefore all who devour you will be devoured;And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity.And they who plunder you will become plunder,And all who prey upon you I will give for prey.

‘For I will restore health to youAnd I will heal your wounds,’ says the Lord,‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying:“This is Zion; no one seeks her and no one cares for her.”’

‘Their prince will be one of them,And their ruler will come forward from among them.I will bring him near and he shall approach Me,For who is he who would have the boldness and would dare [on his own initiative] to risk his life to approach Me?’ says the Lord.

great [are You] in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to reward or repay each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;

and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may [reverently] fear Me forever, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

then I would [also] reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes, and will have mercy on them.’”

that every man should let his Hebrew slaves, male and female, go free, so that no one should make a slave of a Jew, his brother.

So then you recently turned and repented, doing what was right in My sight, each man proclaiming release [from servitude] to his countryman [who was his bond servant]; and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My Name.

“Therefore says the Lord, ‘You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed liberty to your brother and your countryman. Behold (listen very carefully), I am proclaiming liberty to you—[liberty to be put] to the sword, [liberty] to [be ravaged by] the virulent disease, and [liberty] to [be decimated by] famine,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make you a horror and a warning to all the kingdoms of the earth.

“Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the [side] chambers; then give them [who are pledged not to drink wine] some wine to drink.”

It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster which I plan to bring on them, so that each one will turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their wickedness and their sin.”

It may be that their supplication [for mercy] will come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.”

Now when they had heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear and said to Baruch, “We must surely report all these words to the king.”

Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.”

Now Ebed-melech the Ethiopian (Cushite), one of the eunuchs who was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern, and while the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin,

Now in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family [of David] and one of the princes of the king, came [at the instigation of the Ammonites] with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam in Mizpah. As they were eating a meal together there in Mizpah,

Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and killed the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed [governor] over the land.

Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men whom he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one which King Asa [of Judah] had made [about three hundred years earlier] on account of King Baasha of Israel [believing that Baasha would lay siege to Mizpah]. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with [the bodies of] those who were killed.

“Why have your strong ones been cut down?They do not stand because the Lord drove them away.

“He will make many stumble and fall;Yes, they have fallen one on another.Then they said, ‘Arise, and let us go backTo our own people and to the land of our birth,Away from the sword of the oppressor.’

“Moab has been at ease from his youth;He has also been undisturbed, and settled like wine on his dregs,And he has not been emptied from one vessel to another,Nor has he gone into exile.Therefore his flavor remains in him,And his scent has not changed.

“We have heard of the [giddy] pride of Moab, the extremely proud one—His haughtiness, his arrogance, his conceit, and his self-exaltation.

“So joy and gladness are taken awayFrom the fruitful field and from the land of Moab.And I have made the wine cease from the wine presses;No one treads the grapes with shouting.Their shouting is not joyful shouting [but is instead, a battle cry].

Moreover, I will cause to cease in Moab,” says the Lord, “the one who ascends and offers sacrifice in the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.

“Behold, I am going to bring terror on you,”Says the Lord God of hosts,“From all who are around you;And each of you will be driven out headlong,And there will be no one to gather the fugitives together.

See, one will come like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Edom] and its watered pastures; for in an instant I will make him (Edom) run from his land. I will appoint over him the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court] and prosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?”

Behold, He will mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread His wings against [the city of] Bozrah; and in that day the heart of the mighty warriors of Edom will be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.

“Why has the renowned city not been deserted,The city of My joy!

“My people have become lost sheep;Their shepherds have led them astray.They have made them turn aside [to the seductive places of idolatry] on the mountains.They have gone along [from one sin to another] from mountain to hill;They have forgotten their [own] resting place.

“Cut off the sower from BabylonAnd the one who handles the sickle at the time of harvest.For fear of the sword of the oppressorEveryone will return to his own peopleAnd everyone will flee to his own land.

“Call together many [archers] against Babylon,All those who bend the bow.Encamp against her on every side;Let no one from there escape.Repay her according to her actions;Just as she has done, do to her.For she has been proudly defiant and presumptuous against the Lord,Against the Holy One of Israel.

“The arrogant (proud) one will stumble and fallWith no one to raise him up;And I will set fire to his citiesAnd it will devour all who are around him.”

“See, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Babylon] and its watered pastures; for in an instant I will make Babylon run from his land. I will appoint over Babylon the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court] and prosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?”

For neither Israel nor Judah has been abandonedBy his God, the Lord of hosts,Though their land is full of sin and guiltBefore the Holy One of Israel.

The Portion of Jacob [the true God of Israel] is not like these [handmade gods];For He is the Maker of all and the One who formed and fashioned all things,And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—The Lord of hosts is His name.

One courier runs to meet another,And one messenger to meet another,To tell the king of BabylonThat his city has been captured from end to end;

“Her cities have become an astonishing desolation and an object of horror,A parched land and a desert,A land in which no one lives,And through which no son of man passes.

“Now beware so that you do not lose heart,And so that you are not afraid at the rumor that will be heard in the land—For the rumor shall come one year,And after that another rumor in another year,And violence shall be in the land,Ruler against ruler—

The two pillars, the one [enormous] Sea (basin), and the twelve bronze bulls under the Sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these things was beyond weighing.

Concerning the pillars, the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits (twenty-seven feet), and a line [an ornamental molding] of twelve cubits (eighteen feet) went around its circumference; it was four fingers thick, and [the pillar was] hollow.

A capital of bronze was on [top of] it. The height of each capital was five cubits (seven and one-half feet), with a lattice-work and pomegranates around it, all of bronze. The second pillar also, with its pomegranates, was similar to these.

And his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion [according to his needs] until the day of his death, all the days of his life.