"And you, raise a lament about the leaders of Israel, and you must say,

This is a lament, and it will be used as a lament.

And then in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, men from the elders of Israel came to consult Yahweh, and they sat before me. And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, speak with the elders of Israel, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Are you coming to consult me? As I live, I will surely not allow myself to be consulted by you!"’ declares the Lord Yahweh. Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Make known to them the detestable things of their ancestors. And you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "On the day of my choosing Israel I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, and I swore to them, saying, ‘I am Yahweh your God.’ On that day I swore to them to bring them out from the land of Egypt to the land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands. Then I said to them, ‘Let each one throw away the detestable things of his eyes, and you must not make yourselves unclean with the idols of Egypt! I am Yahweh your God.’ But they rebelled against me, and they were not willing to listen to me; each one did not throw away the detestable things of their eyes; and they did not abandon the idols of Egypt, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

"But I acted for the sake of my name to keep it from being profaned before the eyes of the nations among whom they lived, where I made known to them before their eyes, to bring them out from the land of Egypt. And I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and I brought them to the desert, and I gave my statutes to them, and my regulations I made known to them, which, if a person does them, then he will live by them. And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be a sign between me and between them so they would know that I, Yahweh, am the one sanctifying them.

"But in the desert the house of Israel rebelled against me; they did not walk in my statutes, and they rejected my regulations, which, if a person does them, he will live by them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths, and I decided to pour out my rage on them in the desert to destroy them, and I acted for the sake of my name, that it not be profaned before the eyes of the nations before whom I brought them out. And also I myself swore to them in the desert not to bring them into the land that I had given to them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands— because they despised my judgments, and they did not walk in my statutes, and my Sabbaths they profaned, for their heart was going after their idols. But my eye took pity on them by not destroying them, and I did not completely destroy them in the desert.

"And I said to their children in the desert, ‘You must not go in the statutes of your parents; you must not keep their regulations, and you must not make yourself unclean with their idols. I, Yahweh, am your God, so go in my statutes and keep my regulations and do them. And treat my Sabbaths as holy, and they will be a sign between me and between you that you may know that I, Yahweh, am your God.’ But the children rebelled against me; they did not walk in my statutes, and they did not observe my regulations, which if a person does them, then he will live by them. My Sabbaths they desecrated, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to finish my anger against them in the desert. But I withheld my hand, and I acted for the sake of my name not to be profaned before the eyes of the nations before whom I had brought them out before their eyes. What is more, I swore to them in the desert to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them in the lands, because they did not do my regulations, and my statutes they despised, and my Sabbaths they profaned, and their eyes were after the idols of their ancestors. And in turn I gave to them rules that were not good and regulations by which they will not live. And I defiled them through their gifts in sacrificing all of the first offspring of the womb, in order that I will cause them to be stunned, so that they will know that I am Yahweh.

"Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Again in this your ancestors blasphemed me at their display of infidelity toward me."’ And I brought them to the land that I swore to give to them, and they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered their sacrifices, and they presented there the provocation of their offering, and they gave there their fragrant incense offering, and they poured out their libations there. And I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you are going?’ And it is called Bamah until this day. Therefore thus say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "In the way of your ancestors will you defile yourself, and after their vile idols will you prostitute yourselves? And when you lift up your gifts, sacrificing your children through the fire, you are defiling yourself through all of your idols until today, and will I let myself be consulted by you, house of Israel?"’ As I live," declares the Lord Yahweh, "I will not let myself be consulted by you! And what you are planning, surely it will not be—that you are saying, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, serving wood and stone!’

"As I live," declares the Lord Yahweh, "surely with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with rage pouring forth I will reign as king over you! And I will bring you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with rage poured out. Then I will bring you to the desert of the peoples, and I will execute justice on you there face to face. Just as I executed justice on your ancestors in the desert of the land of Egypt, likewise I will execute justice on you!" declares the Lord Yahweh. "And I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. And I will purge the rebels from among you and the ones transgressing against me; I will bring them out from the land where they are living as aliens, but into the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am Yahweh.

And you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Let each one go serve his idols now and after, if you are not listening to me, but my holy name you will not profane any longer with your gifts and with your idols.

"For on my holy mountain, on the mountain of the height of Israel," declares the Lord Yahweh, "there all of the house of Israel will serve me, all of them, in the land. I will take pleasure in them, and there I will accept your contributions and the best of your portions with all of your holy objects. I will accept you as a fragrant incense offering when I bring you out from the peoples and I gather you from the lands to which you were scattered, and I will show myself holy among you before the eyes of the nations. And you will know that I am Yahweh when I bring you to the land of Israel, to the land that I swore to give to your ancestors. And you will remember there your ways, and all of your deeds by which you were made unclean, and you will feel a loathing for yourself for all of your evils that you have done. And you will know that I am Yahweh when I deal with you for the sake of my name and not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupted deeds, house of Israel," declares the Lord Yahweh.

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, set your face toward the way of the south, and preach to the south, and prophesy against the forest of the territory of the Negev. And you must say to the forest of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am kindling against you a fire, and it will devour in you every fresh tree and every dry tree; the blaze of the flame will not be quenched, and all the surfaces from the south to the north will be scorched by it. And all creatures will see that I, Yahweh, I kindled it—it will not be quenched!"’" Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, they are saying about me, ‘Is he not posing a parable?’"

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach to the sanctuaries, and prophesy to the land of Israel. And you must say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says Yahweh: "Look! I am against you, and I will draw out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath to all creatures from south to north. And they will know, all creatures, that I, Yahweh, I will bring out my sword from its sheath; it will not return again!"’ And you, son of man, groan with shaking hips, and you must groan with bitterness before their eyes. And then when they say to you, ‘On account of what are you groaning?’ then you must say, ‘On account of the report, for it is coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go like water.’ Look! It is coming, and it will happen!" declares the Lord Yahweh.

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, prophesy, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ say, ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened and is also polished. It is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Or will we rejoice? A rod, my son, is despising every tree. And he gives it to be polished, to be seized by the hand. It is sharpened—a sword—and it is polished to give it into the hand of the killer. Cry and wail, son of man, for it is against my people; it is against all of the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword with my people; therefore strike your thigh. For examine! And what if also the rod will not be despising?’ declares the Lord Yahweh. And you, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands. And the sword will strike twice; let it happen a third time. It is a sword of the dead, the sword of the great dead that is surrounding them, so that a heart melts, and the fallen multiply at all of their gates. I gave a sword for slaughter, and alas! It is made for flashing, it is grasped for slaughtering. Gather together, strike to the right; cause to go to the left, where your edge is directed. And also I myself will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my rage! I, Yahweh, I have spoken."

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "And you, son of man, mark out for yourself two roads for the coming of the sword of the king of Babylon; they must both go out from the same land. And hew out a signpost; hew it at the head of the road of the city. You must mark a road for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, in Jerusalem the fortified. For the king of Babylon stands at the fork of the road at the head of the two roads to practice divination. He shakes the arrows, he inquires with the teraphim, he examines the liver. In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to put up battering rams, to open a mouth for slaughter, to raise the battle cry, to put up battering rams against gates, to build a siege ramp, to build siege works. And it will be to them like practicing divination falsely in their eyes; they have sworn oaths for themselves. But he will bring their guilt to remembrance so as to seize them.

"Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because you have brought to remembrance your guilt by the uncovering of your transgressions, so that your sins in all of your deeds appear—because of your being remembered, you will be captured in the hand.’ And as for you, profane one, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come with the time of the punishment of the end, thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Remove the turban and lift off the crown; things are no longer the same. Exalt the low and bring low the high. A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it! Also this has not ever happened; it will remain until the coming of the one to whom the judgment belongs and I have given it to him.’ And you, son of man, prophesy, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the Ammonites and concerning their disgrace,’ and you must say, ‘A sword, a sword is drawn for slaughtering; it is polished for holding, for flashing like lightning, when seeing a false vision for you in vain, when practicing divination for you falsely, to give you on the neck of the profane ones of the wicked, whose day has come, the time of final punishment. Return it to its sheath in the place where you were created. In the land of your origin I will judge you! And I will pour out my anger on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, skilled craftsmen of destruction. You will be as fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the earth. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, I have spoken.’"

For the music director; on the Gittith.

Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.

And after these things Jesus was going about in Galilee. For he did not want to go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the feast of the Jews—the feast of Tabernacles—was near. So his brothers said to him, "Depart from here and go to Judea, so that your disciples also can see your works that you are doing. For no one does anything in secret and yet he himself desires to be publicly recognized. If you are doing these things, reveal yourself to the world!" (For not even his brothers believed in him.)

So Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I am testifying about it, that its deeds are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, because my time is not yet completed. And when he had said these things, he remained in Galilee.

But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not openly, but (as it were) in secret. So the Jews were looking for him at the feast, and were saying, "Where is he?" And there was a lot of grumbling concerning him among the crowds; some were saying, "He is a good man," but others were saying, "No, but he deceives the crowd." However, no one was speaking openly about him for fear of the Jews.

Now when the feast was already half over, Jesus went to the temple courts and began to teach. Then the Jews were astonished, saying, "How does this man possess knowledge, because he has not been taught?" So Jesus answered them and said, "My teaching is not mine, but is from the one who sent me. If anyone wants to do his will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or I am speaking from myself. The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory. But the one who seeks the glory of the one who sent him—this one is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Has not Moses given you the law, and none of you carries out the law? Why do you seek to kill me?"

The crowd replied, "You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?" Jesus answered and said to them, "I performed one work, and you are all astonished. Because of this Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses would not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole man well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to outward appearance, but judge according to righteous judgment!"

Then some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem began to say, "Is this not the one whom they are seeking to kill? And behold, he is speaking openly and they are saying nothing to him! Can it be that the rulers truly know that this man is the Christ? Yet we know where this man is from, but the Christ, whenever he comes—no one knows where he is from!"

Then Jesus cried out in the temple courts, teaching and saying, "You both know me and you know where I am from! And I have not come from myself, but the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know. I know him, because I am from him and he sent me."

So they were seeking to seize him, and no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. But from the crowd many believed in him and were saying, "Whenever the Christ comes, he will not perform more signs than this man has done, will he?"

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers in order to take him into custody . Then Jesus said, "Yet a little time I am with you, and I am going to the one who sent me. You will seek me and will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come."

So the Jews said to one another, "Where is this one going to go, that we will not find him? He is not going to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? What is this saying that he said, ‘You will seek me and will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come’?"

Now on the last day of the feast—the great day—Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let him drink, the one who believes in me. Just as the scripture said, ‘Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.’" Now he said this concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. For the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)

Then, when they heard these words, some from the crowd began to say, "This man is truly the Prophet!" Others were saying, "This man is the Christ!" But others were saying, "No, for the Christ does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" So there was a division in the crowd because of him. And some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.

So the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees. And they said to them, "Why did you not bring him?" The officers replied, "Never has a man spoken like this!" Then the Pharisees replied to them, "You have not also been deceived, have you? None of the rulers or of the Pharisees have believed in him, have they? But this crowd who does not know the law is accursed!"

Nicodemus, the one who came to him previously—who was one of them—said to them, "Our law does not condemn a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?" They answered and said to him, "You are not also from Galilee, are you? Investigate and see that a prophet does not arise from Galilee!" [[And each one went to his own house.