1 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it 3 and say to it, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir,
And I will reach out with My hand against you
And make you a desolation and a waste.
4 I will turn your cities to ruins,
And you will become a desolation.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
5 Since you have had everlasting hostility and have turned over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their disaster, at the time of the punishment of the end, 6 therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will certainly doom you to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you. 7 I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation and I will eliminate from it one who passes through and returns. 8 I will fill its mountains with its slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your ravines. 9 I will make you a permanent desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
10 “Since you have said, ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,’ although the Lord was there, 11 therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your envy which you displayed because of your hatred for them; so I will make Myself known among them when I judge you. 12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel saying, ‘They are desolate; they have been given to us as food.’ 13 And you have spoken arrogantly against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; I Myself have heard it.” 14 This is what the Lord God says: “As all the earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation. 15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be a desolation, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’
1 “Now you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 This is what the Lord God says: “Since the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting heights have become our possession,’ 3 therefore prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “For good reason they have made you desolate and harassed you from every side, so that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations; and you have been taken up in the talk and the rumor of the people.”’” 4 Therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the abandoned cities which have become plunder and an object of ridicule to the rest of the nations which are all around— 5 therefore the Lord God says this: “Certainly in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with contempt of soul, in order to make its pastureland plunder.” 6 Therefore prophesy in regard to the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “This is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations.’ 7 Therefore the Lord God says this: ‘I have sworn that the nations that are around you will certainly endure their insults themselves. 8 But as for you, mountains of Israel, you will grow your branches and bear fruit for My people Israel; for they are about to come. 9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. 10 And I will multiply people on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the ruins will be rebuilt. 11 I will multiply on you people and animals, and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will populate you as you were previously, and treat you better than at the beginning. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 Yes, I will have people—My people Israel—walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.’
13 “The Lord God says this: ‘Since they say to you, “You are a devourer of people and have bereaved your nation of children,” 14 for that reason you will no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ declares the Lord God. 15 I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you suffer disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you make your nation stumble any longer,” declares the Lord God.’”
16 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living on their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. 18 Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I also scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20 When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, yet they have left His land.’ 21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “It is not for your sake, house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, “when I show Myself holy among you in their sight. 24 For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the lands; and I will bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you and bring it about that you walk in My statutes, and are careful and follow My ordinances. 28 And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. 30 Instead, I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your wrongdoings and your abominations. 32 I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord God; “let that be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated for your ways, house of Israel!”
33 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your wrongdoings, I will populate the cities, and the places of ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolated land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. 35 And they will say, ‘This desolated land has become like the Garden of Eden; and the waste, desolated and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ 36 Then the nations around you that are left will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolated; I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.”
37 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “This too I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their people like a flock. 38 Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’”
1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
2 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Now the brother or sister of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 but the rich person is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so also the rich person, in the midst of his pursuits, will die out.
12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 No one is to say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
1 I love the Lord, because He hears
My voice and my pleas.
2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“Please, Lord, save my life!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate.
6 The Lord watches over the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
7 Return to your rest, my soul,
For the Lord has dealt generously with you.
8 For You have rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from stumbling.
9 I shall walk before the Lord
In the land of the living.
10 I believed when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
11 I said in my alarm,
“All people are liars.”
12 What shall I repay to the Lord
For all His benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord;
May it be in the presence of all His people!
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones.
16 O Lord, I surely am Your slave,
I am Your slave, the son of Your female slave,
You have unfastened my restraints.
17 I will offer You a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord,
May it be in the presence of all His people,
19 In the courtyards of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!
23 Know well the condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
24 For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
25 When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
26 The lambs will be for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field,
27 And there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your attendants.
