The Starting Point of Biblical History That Had Been Kept Secret 4

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of Jehovah thy God,to observe to do all his commandments which I command thee this day,that Jehovah thy God will "set thee on high above all the nations of the earth."If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God,• all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.• Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.• Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy beasts, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock.• Blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.• Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.Jehovah will cause thine enemies that rise up against thee "to be smitten before thee":they shall come out against thee one way, and shall flee before thee seven ways.Jehovah will command the blessing upon theein thy barns, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto;and he will bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.Jehovah will establish thee "for a holy people unto himself," as he hath sworn unto thee;if thou shalt keep the commandments of Jehovah thy God, and walk in his ways.And "all the peoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of Jehovah;and they shall be afraid of thee."And Jehovah will make thee plenteous for good• in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground,in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers to give thee.Jehovah will open unto thee his good treasure the heavens,to give "the rain of thy land in its season,"and "to bless all the work of thy hand":and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.And Jehovah will make thee "the head, and not the tail";and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath;if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah thy God,which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them,and shalt not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day,to the right hand, or to the left,to go after other gods to serve them.

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God,"to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day,"that "all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee."• Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.• Jehovah will make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest in to possess it.• Jehovah will cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them: and thou shalt be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth.• Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples whither Jehovah shall lead thee away.• Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.• Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be thine; for they shall go into captivity.And "all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee,and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed";because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of Jehovah thy God,to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee.And they shall be "upon thee for a sign and for a wonder,and upon thy seed for ever."Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies that Jehovah shall send against thee,"in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things";and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck,until he have destroyed thee.And "ye shall be left few in number,"whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude;because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God.• As Jehovah rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Jehovah will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you.• Ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest in to possess it.• Jehovah will scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; and there thou shalt serve "other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, even wood and stone."

And Jehovah was angry with Solomon,because his heart was turned away from Jehovah, the God of Israel,who had appeared unto him twice,and had commanded him concerning this thing,that he should not go after other gods:but he kept not that which Jehovah commanded.

Hear ye the word which Jehovah speaketh unto you,"O house of Israel":Thus saith Jehovah,"Learn not the way of the nations,"and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven;for the nations are dismayed at them.For the customs of the peoples are vanity;for one cutteth a tree out of the forest,the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.They deck it with silver and with gold;they fasten it with nails and with hammers,that it move not.They are like a palm-tree, of turned work, and speak not:they must needs be borne, because they cannot go.Be not afraid of them;for "they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good."But they are together brutish and foolish:"the instruction of idols! it is but a stock."There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish,and gold from Uphaz,the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith;blue and purple for their clothing;"they are all the work of skilful men."Thus shall ye say unto them,The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth,these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.He hath made the earth by his power,he hath established the world by his wisdom,and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens.When he uttereth his voice,there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;he maketh lightnings for the rain,and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries.Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge;every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image;for "his molten image is falsehood,"and "there is no breath in them.""They are vanity, a work of delusion":in the time of their visitation they shall perish."The portion of Jacob is not like these";• for he is the former of all things;• and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance:Jehovah of hosts is his name."Gather up thy wares out of the land,O thou that abidest in the siege."For thus saith Jehovah,Behold, "I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time,"and "will distress them, that they may feel it."Woe is me because of my hurt!my wound is grievous:but I said,"Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it."

Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge;every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image;for "his molten image is falsehood,"and there is no breath in them."The portion of Jacob is not like these";• for he is the former of all things;• and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance:Jehovah of hosts is his name."Gather up thy wares out of the land,O thou that abidest in the siege."For thus saith Jehovah,Behold, "I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time,"• and "will distress them, that they may feel it."Woe is me because of my hurt!my wound is grievous:but I said,"Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it."My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken:my children are gone forth from me, and they are not:there is none to spread my tent any more,and to set up my curtains.For the shepherds are become brutish,and "have not inquired of Jehovah":therefore they have not prospered,and all their flocks are scattered.The voice of tidings, behold, it cometh,and a great commotion out of the north country,to make the cities of Judah a desolation,a dwelling-place of jackals.O Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in himself;it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.O Jehovah, correct me, but in measure;not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not,and upon the families that call not on thy name;for "they have devoured Jacob,yea, they have devoured him and consumed him,and have laid waste his habitation."

"The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off."Shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her;they shall pitch their tents against her round about;they shall feed every one in his place.• Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon.• Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.• Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.For thus hath Jehovah of hosts said,Hew ye down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem:"this is the city to be visited";"she is wholly oppression in the midst of her."As a well casteth forth its waters,so "she casteth forth her wickedness":violence and destruction is heard in her;before me continually is sickness and wounds."Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem,"• lest my soul be alienated from thee;• lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.

"Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem,"lest my soul be alienated from thee;lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.Thus saith Jehovah of hosts,They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine:turn again thy hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets.• To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear?• Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken.• Behold, the word of Jehovah is become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.• Therefore "I am full of the wrath of Jehovah; I am weary with holding in."Pour it out upon the children in the street,and upon the assembly of young men together;for even the husband with the wife shall be taken,the aged with him that is full of days.• Their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah.• From the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness.• From the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.• They have healed also the hurt of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.• Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?• Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush.• Therefore they shall fall among them that fall.• At the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith Jehovah.

Thus saith Jehovah,Stand ye in the ways and see,and ask for "the old paths, where is the good way";and walk therein,and "ye shall find rest for your souls":• but they said, "We will not walk therein."And I set watchmen over you, saying,"Hearken to the sound of the trumpet";• but they said, "We will not hearken."Therefore "hear, ye nations,and know, O congregation, what is among them."Hear, O earth:behold, "I will bring evil upon this people,even the fruit of their thoughts,"because they have not hearkened unto my words;and as for "my law, they have rejected it."O daughter of my people,gird thee with sackcloth,and wallow thyself in ashes:"make thee mourning, as for an only son,most bitter lamentation";for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.

Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow!my heart is faint within me.• Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off:• "Is not Jehovah in Zion?"• "Is not her King in her?"Why have they provoked me to anger"with their graven images, and with foreign vanities?"The harvest is past, the summer is ended,and "we are not saved."• For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt.• I mourn; dismay hath taken hold on me.Is there no balm in Gilead?is there no physician there?why then "is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?"

Even all the nations shall say,"Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this land?what meaneth the heat of this great anger?"Then men shall say,Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah,the God of their fathers,• which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt,• and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they knew not,• and that he had not given unto them.Therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against this land,"to bring upon it all the curse that is written in this book";and Jehovah "rooted them out of their landin anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation,"and "cast them into another land, as at this day."