JEREMIAH 47-48

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Prophecy against Philistia  47:1 That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza. 2 Thus says the LORD:

“Behold, waters are going to rise from the north

And become an overflowing torrent,

And overflow the land and all its fullness,

The city and those who live in it;

And the men will cry out,

And every inhabitant of the land will wail.

3 “Because of the noise of the galloping hoofs of his stallions,

The tumult of his chariots, and the rumbling of his wheels,

The fathers have not turned back for their children,

Because of the limpness of their hands,

4 On account of the day that is coming

To destroy all the Philistines,

To cut off from Tyre and Sidon

Every ally that is left;

For the LORD is going to destroy the Philistines,

The remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.

5 “Baldness has come upon Gaza;

Ashkelon has been ruined.

O remnant of their valley,

How long will you gash yourself?

6 “Ah, sword of the LORD,

How long will you not be quiet?

Withdraw into your sheath;

Be at rest and stay still.

7 “How can it be quiet,

When the LORD has given it an order?

Against Ashkelon and against the seacoast--

There He has assigned it.”

Prophecy against Moab  48:1 Concerning Moab. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,

“Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed;

Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured;

The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and shattered.

2 “There is praise for Moab no longer;

In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her:

‘Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!’

You too, Madmen, will be silenced;

The sword will follow after you.

3 “The sound of an outcry from Horonaim,

‘Devastation and great destruction!’

4 “Moab is broken,

Her little ones have sounded out a cry of distress.

5 “For by the ascent of Luhith

They will ascend with continual weeping;

For at the descent of Horonaim

They have heard the anguished cry of destruction.

6 “Flee, save your lives,

That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.

7 “For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures,

Even you yourself will be captured;

And Chemosh will go off into exile

Together with his priests and his princes.

8 “A destroyer will come to every city,

So that no city will escape;

The valley also will be ruined

And the plateau will be destroyed,

As the LORD has said.

9 “Give wings to Moab,

For she will flee away;

And her cities will become a desolation,

Without inhabitants in them.

10 “Cursed be the one who does the LORD’S work negligently,

And cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood.

11 “Moab has been at ease since his youth;

He has also been undisturbed, like wine on its dregs,

And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,

Nor has he gone into exile.

Therefore he retains his flavor,

And his aroma has not changed.

12 Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars. 13 And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

14 “How can you say, ‘We are mighty warriors,

And men valiant for battle’?

15 “Moab has been destroyed and men have gone up to his cities;

His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter,”

Declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

16 “The disaster of Moab will soon come,

And his calamity has swiftly hastened.

17 “Mourn for him, all you who live around him,

Even all of you who know his name;

Say, ‘How has the mighty scepter been broken,

A staff of splendor!’

18 “Come down from your glory

And sit on the parched ground,

O daughter dwelling in Dibon,

For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,

He has ruined your strongholds.

19 “Stand by the road and keep watch,

O inhabitant of Aroer;

Ask him who flees and her who escapes

And say, ‘What has happened?’

20 “Moab has been put to shame, for it has been shattered.

Wail and cry out;

Declare by the Arnon

That Moab has been destroyed.

    21 “Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, Jahzah and against Mephaath, 22 against Dibon, Nebo and Beth-diblathaim, 23 against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul and Beth-meon, 24 against Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 The horn of Moab has been cut off and his arm broken,” declares the LORD. 26 “Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant toward the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock. 27 Now was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Or was he caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you shake your head in scorn.

28 “Leave the cities and dwell among the crags,

O inhabitants of Moab,

And be like a dove that nests

Beyond the mouth of the chasm.

29 “We have heard of the pride of Moab--he is very proud--

Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation.

30 “I know his fury,” declares the LORD,

“But it is futile;

His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.

31 “Therefore I will wail for Moab,

Even for all Moab will I cry out;

I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

32 “More than the weeping for Jazer

I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah!

Your tendrils stretched across the sea,

They reached to the sea of Jazer;

Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest

The destroyer has fallen.

33 “So gladness and joy are taken away

From the fruitful field, even from the land of Moab.

And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses;

No one will tread them with shouting,

The shouting will not be shouts of joy.

34 From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate. 35 I will make an end of Moab,” declares the LORD, “the one who offers sacrifice on the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.
    36 “Therefore My heart wails for Moab like flutes; My heart also wails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced. 37 For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins. 38 On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel,” declares the LORD. 39 “How shattered it is! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back--he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an object of terror to all around him.”
    40 For thus says the LORD:

“Behold, one will fly swiftly like an eagle

And spread out his wings against Moab.

41 “Kerioth has been captured

And the strongholds have been seized,

So the hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day

Will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

42 “Moab will be destroyed from being a people

Because he has become arrogant toward the LORD.

43 “Terror, pit and snare are coming upon you,

O inhabitant of Moab,” declares the LORD.

44 “The one who flees from the terror

Will fall into the pit,

And the one who climbs up out of the pit

Will be caught in the snare;

For I shall bring upon her, even upon Moab,

The year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.

45 “In the shadow of Heshbon

The fugitives stand without strength;

For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon

And a flame from the midst of Sihon,

And it has devoured the forehead of Moab

And the scalps of the riotous revelers.

46 “Woe to you, Moab!

The people of Chemosh have perished;

For your sons have been taken away captive

And your daughters into captivity.

47 “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab

In the latter days,” declares the LORD.

    Thus far the judgment on Moab.

PROVERBS 25

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Similitudes, Instructions  25:1 These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transcribed.
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,

But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

3 As the heavens for height and the earth for depth,

So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

4 Take away the dross from the silver,

And there comes out a vessel for the smith;

5 Take away the wicked before the king,

And his throne will be established in righteousness.

6 Do not claim honor in the presence of the king,

And do not stand in the place of great men;

7 For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”

Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,

Whom your eyes have seen.

8 Do not go out hastily to argue your case;

Otherwise, what will you do in the end,

When your neighbor humiliates you?

9 Argue your case with your neighbor,

And do not reveal the secret of another,

10 Or he who hears it will reproach you,

And the evil report about you will not pass away.

11 Like apples of gold in settings of silver

Is a word spoken in right circumstances.

12 Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold

Is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

13 Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest

Is a faithful messenger to those who send him,

For he refreshes the soul of his masters.

14 Like clouds and wind without rain

Is a man who boasts of his gifts falsely.

15 By forbearance a ruler may be persuaded,

And a soft tongue breaks the bone.

16 Have you found honey? Eat only what you need,

That you not have it in excess and vomit it.

17 Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor’s house,

Or he will become weary of you and hate you.

18 Like a club and a sword and a sharp arrow

Is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.

19 Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot

Is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.

20 Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda,

Is he who sings songs to a troubled heart.

21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;

And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

22 For you will heap burning coals on his head,

And the LORD will reward you.

23 The north wind brings forth rain,

And a backbiting tongue, an angry countenance.

24 It is better to live in a corner of the roof

Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

25 Like cold water to a weary soul,

So is good news from a distant land.

26 Like a trampled spring and a polluted well

Is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

27 It is not good to eat much honey,

Nor is it glory to search out one’s own glory.

28 Like a city that is broken into and without walls

Is a man who has no control over his spirit.

PSALM 126

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Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity.A Song of Ascents.
126:1 When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion,

We were like those who dream.

2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter

And our tongue with joyful shouting;

Then they said among the nations,

“The LORD has done great things for them.”

3 The LORD has done great things for us;

We are glad.

4 Restore our captivity, O LORD,

As the streams in the South.

5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

6 He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,

Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

PSALM 127

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Prosperity Comes from the LORD.A Song of Ascents, of Solomon.
127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house,

They labor in vain who build it;

Unless the LORD guards the city,

The watchman keeps awake in vain.

2 It is vain for you to rise up early,

To retire late,

To eat the bread of painful labors;

For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

3 Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one’s youth.

5 How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;

They will not be ashamed

When they speak with their enemies in the gate.