Wednesday, February 15, 2034

^2:12Now therefore, saith the Lord your God, turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation: ¹³and rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy, and repents of evils. ¹⁴Who knows if he will return, and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat-offering and a drink-offering to the Lord your God? ¹⁵Sound the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, proclaim a solemn service: ¹⁶gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the infants at the breast: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

¹⁷Between the porch and the altar let the priests that minister to the Lord weep, and say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them, lest they should say among the heathen, Where is their God? ¹⁸But the Lord was jealous of his land, and spared his people. ¹⁹And the Lord answered and said to his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied with them: and I will no longer make you a reproach among the Gentiles.

²⁰And I will chase away from you the northern adversary, and will drive him away into a dry land, and I will sink his face in the former sea, and his back parts in the latter sea, and his ill savour shall come up, and his stink shall come up, because he has wrought great things. ²¹Be of good courage, O land; rejoice and be glad: for the Lord has done great things. ²²Be of good courage, ye beasts of the plain, for the plains of the wilderness have budded, for the trees have borne their fruit, the fig-tree and the vine have yielded their strength.

²³Rejoice then and be glad, ye children of Sion, in the Lord your God: for he has given you food fully, and he will rain on you the early and the latter rain, as before. ²⁴And the floors shall be filled with corn, and the presses shall overflow with wine and oil. ²⁵And I will recompense you for the years which the locust, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, and the cankerworm have eaten, even my great army, which I sent against you. ²⁶And ye shall eat abundantly, and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of the Lord your God for the things which he has wrought wonderfully with you: and my people shall not be ashamed for ever.

^2:12Now therefore, saith the Lord your God, turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation: ¹³and rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy, and repents of evils. ¹⁴Who knows if he will return, and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat-offering and a drink-offering to the Lord your God? ¹⁵Sound the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, proclaim a solemn service: ¹⁶gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the infants at the breast: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

¹⁷Between the porch and the altar let the priests that minister to the Lord weep, and say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them, lest they should say among the heathen, Where is their God? ¹⁸But the Lord was jealous of his land, and spared his people. ¹⁹And the Lord answered and said to his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied with them: and I will no longer make you a reproach among the Gentiles.

²⁰And I will chase away from you the northern adversary, and will drive him away into a dry land, and I will sink his face in the former sea, and his back parts in the latter sea, and his ill savour shall come up, and his stink shall come up, because he has wrought great things. ²¹Be of good courage, O land; rejoice and be glad: for the Lord has done great things. ²²Be of good courage, ye beasts of the plain, for the plains of the wilderness have budded, for the trees have borne their fruit, the fig-tree and the vine have yielded their strength.

²³Rejoice then and be glad, ye children of Sion, in the Lord your God: for he has given you food fully, and he will rain on you the early and the latter rain, as before. ²⁴And the floors shall be filled with corn, and the presses shall overflow with wine and oil. ²⁵And I will recompense you for the years which the locust, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, and the cankerworm have eaten, even my great army, which I sent against you. ²⁶And ye shall eat abundantly, and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of the Lord your God for the things which he has wrought wonderfully with you: and my people shall not be ashamed for ever.

^6:1And it came to pass in the year in which king Ozias died, that I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, and the house was full of his glory. ²And seraphs stood round about him: each one had six wings: and with two they covered their face, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. ³And one cried to the other, and they said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. ⁴And the lintel shook at the voice they uttered, and the house was filled with smoke.

⁵And I said, Woe is me, for I am pricked to the heart; for being a man, and having unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips; and I have seen with mine eyes the King, the Lord of hosts. ⁶And there was sent to me one of the seraphs, and he had in his hand a coal, which he had taken off the altar with the tongs: ⁷and he touched my mouth, and said, Behold, this has touched thy lips, and will take away thine iniquities, and will purge off thy sins.

⁸And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said, Behold, I am here, send me. And he said, Go, and say to this people, ⁹Ye shall hear indeed, but ye shall not understand; and ye shall see indeed, but ye shall not perceive. ¹⁰For the heart of this people has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

¹¹And I said, How long, O Lord? And he said, Until the cities be deserted by reason of their not being inhabited, and the houses by reason of there being no men, and the land shall be left desolate. ¹²And after this God shall remove the men far off, and they that are left upon the land shall be multiplied.

^2:25Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law, ²⁸then he received him into his arms and blessed God, and said, ²⁹“Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace; ³⁰for my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹which you have prepared before the face of all peoples; ³²a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.”

^7:7But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. ⁸Here people who die receive tithes, but there one receives tithes of whom it is testified that he lives. ⁹We can say that through Abraham even Levi, who receives tithes, has paid tithes, ¹⁰for he was yet in the body of his father when Melchizedek met him. ¹¹Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people have received the law), what further need was there for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

¹²For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change made also in the law. ¹³For he of whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. ¹⁴For it is evident that our Lord has sprung out of Judah, about which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. ¹⁵This is yet more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest, ¹⁶who has been made, not after the law of a fleshly commandment, but after the power of an endless life; ¹⁷for it is testified, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”

^2:22When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), ²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” ²⁵Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.

²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law, ²⁸then he received him into his arms and blessed God, and said, ²⁹“Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace; ³⁰for my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹which you have prepared before the face of all peoples; ³²a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.”

³³Joseph and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him. ³⁴Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against. ³⁵Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” ³⁶There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, ³⁷and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day.

³⁸Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem. ³⁹When they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. ⁴⁰The child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.