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Posts Tagged ‘Jewish’

The War on Moderation

3/18/24

Just like the Weimar Republic allowed itself to be browbeaten into submission by the radical left and eventually annihilated by the radical right in the 1930s, our US government’s moderates are at risk of going the way of the dinosaurs. Moderates on both the right and the left are caving to the will of bullying extremists on both sides of the aisle, despite the fact that the moderates are in fact a majority in the legislature as well as the majority in the general population.

In our current time, these radical fringe groups, both left and right, are in agreement on one thing. They want to weaken and then destroy the existing moderate representational government and replace it with an authoritarian one, which will exercise total control over the population. Once the existing representational government is destroyed, then they will battle it out for which, left or right, will be the flavor of the day for authoritarianism. David Winner states in the subtitle of his article, “How the left enabled fascism” that “Ernst Thälmann, leader of Germany’s radical left in the last years of the Weimar Republic, thought the centre left was a greater danger than the right. We should remember his miscalculation.” (Winner, 2021) Just like the left in the Weimar Republic, radicals on both sides would rather see an authoritarian government of some kind than a moderate representational government that represents the people. “For strategic reasons, however, he was willing to help them achieve a key part of their dream, which he shared. The dream was to break the loathsome old liberal order. Such a break, reasoned the leader, would create conditions under which the left would sweep to power and transform the country for the better.” (Winner, 2021) Yet, both sides in the US seem to take for granted that they will come out on top of any power struggle. “Thälmann and the KPD regarded fascists and Nazis as products and tools of capitalism. Since social democrats were also capitalists, it followed that social democracy, fascism and Nazism were simply different facets of the same oppression. To further the dream of a Soviet Germany, the party was willing to help the Nazis destroy democracy, thinking it could beat the Nazis easily in the aftermath.” (Winner, 2021)

Clearly both sides are invested in seeing that the general population doesn’t have a voice or a say in their own lives. Our will is to be replaced by their will. We will be forced to listen to and obey a third party if they have their way.

What the people behind the woke movement have been pushing isn’t democracy as it was understood in the US — which is a representational government based on principle — but rather mob rule. The thought is that you eke your way into power and then you can overthrow any representational government and replace it with an authoritarian one that caters to the woke ideology.

The woke are responsible for starting this latest push toward authoritarianism. Part of their ideology is the belief that they are justified in forcing their social ideology on every living person. Only they believed that they would be able to seal the deal and consolidate their power by now. But for whatever reason, it hasn’t happened. Now it finally occurs to them that power could be given back to those who they trespassed against, and they are panic-stricken as a result. Meanwhile, those they have been open to persecuting the last three years are considering going authoritarian themselves and rule over their enemies the way the woke have tried to do these past three years to them. Some members of both groups have become convinced that their survival is at stake, and the only way to save themselves is to “win.” That is what the propaganda is pushing. As in the Weimar Republic, “In the 1930s, fear of Bolshevism persuaded many middle-class Germans to support Hitler (and led the Catholic Church to throw in its lot with fascism in Italy, Spain and elsewhere).” (Winner, 2021)

If the government does go authoritarian, I’m not sure which faction will come out on top. But I know those who will win are the globalists, and those who will lose are the rest of us. For the globalists will have torn down the strongest representational government in the world and replaced it with an authoritarian tyranny that they will be in a unique position to control.

The problem is we can’t see beyond the false dichotomy that you have to choose between left or right authoritarianism or become a victim of the other side. But there’s always a third way. And that way is God. He’s the One who can empower people to stand up to this mess and restore our ability to exercise our own free will again. And the only way to reconcile with God is through repentance, following His will and His standards, and through accepting the sacrifice of His Messiah Jesus Christ.

Winner, D. (2021, September 9). “How the left enabled fascism.” THE NEW STATESMAN. https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2018/10/how-left-enabled-fascism

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Jonah 3

And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

“Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.”

So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.

And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

And it caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish not?

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not (Jonah 3: 1-10).

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Jonah 2

Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly.

And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and He heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and Thou heardest my voice.

For Thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed my about: all Thy billows and Thy waves passed over me.

Then I said, I am cast out of Thy sight; yet I will look again toward Thy holy temple.

The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast Thou brought up my life from corruption [Or, the pit], O LORD my God.

When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto Thee, into Thine holy temple.

They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

But I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land (Jonah 2: 1-10).

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God Comes First

Originally written on 11/2/23

God comes first. Everything else, including other people, including yourself, is subordinated to God. There is an active push to put human beings and their feelings above God. There’s a push to worship certain human beings as gods. This is idolatry. This is not Judeo-Christianity.

As Jesus said,

“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

“For I am come to SET A MAN AT VARIANCE AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND THE DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND THE DAUGHTER IN LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER IN LAW.

“And A MAN’S FOES SHALL BE THEY OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD.

“He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

“And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10: 34-38)

The globalists are also pushing a potpourri religious paradigm on the world: universalism, which adds elements of disparate religions together and requires the world’s population to dabble in other religions and to worship other gods. This is expressly prohibited in Judeo-Christianity and once again is a form of idolatry.

And God spake all these words, saying,

“I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me”; (Exodus 20: 1-5)

But at the center of both efforts is the desire for the elites to be worshipped as gods themselves. And they have to destroy the foundational belief that God comes first in order to replace God in the hierarchy of importance with themselves. They start off this movement by claiming all people should be placed above God. It has become, therefore, offensive to people who buy into the human-first mentality when anyone puts God ahead of a human being. But the end goal is for the elites alone to have worth — not God and not the rest of us. To contradict that this human-first paradigm is compatible with true Judeo-Christianity, I offer the following Bible quotes.

In Matthew 15, Jesus talks about how you can’t replace God’s commandments with those of men:

But He answered and said unto them, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

“For God commanded, saying, ‘HONOUR THY FATHER AND MOTHER’: and, ‘HE THAT CURSETH FATHER OR MOTHER, LET HIM DIE THE DEATH.’

“But ye say, ‘Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, “It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me”;

“‘And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free.’ Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

“Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

“‘THIS PEOPLE DRAWETH NIGH UNTO ME WITH THEIR MOUTH, AND HONOURETH ME WITH THEIR LIPS; BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME.

“‘BUT IN VAIN THEY DO WORSHIP ME, TEACHING FOR DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.’ ” (Matthew 15: 3-9)

People are sold on the idea that they will be held to no standard, have limitless approval, and unrestricted exercise of their own will if people will prioritize human beings over God. The idea they are sold is that if people are allowed to do whatever they want they will no longer be bitter or vengeful. Only the people behind the push to drive God from the worldview of society know better. People’s wills conflict with each other. Some people, including the elites, are also driven to try to subordinate the will of others to their own.

When people put human beings ahead of God, people don’t rise in status equally. For the new system to work, a small number become the false gods while the majority become masochistic slaves. And it isn’t the masochism popularized in fiction. You aren’t beloved of the sadist, and there is no pathway to become their equal. You can see this reality playing out now. Before it was made clear that if you didn’t comply with these people you would be punished — you deserved to be punished. Now you are told you deserve to be punished by just existing, and your persecutor is filled with self-righteous indignation if you attempt to avoid that punishment, even if that punishment is death. There is no discussion allowed for whether the punishment is deserved or the severity of the punishment is justified. In the end, putting human beings ahead of God has been sold as the ultimate in humanitarianism and kindness. Instead, it is a pathway for world system elites to exercise power over others. The real God has been labeled as mean and unkind. In reality, His way is the way that allows people to have a life free from enslavement — enslavement from sin and enslavement from sadism.

Be forewarned. If you give up God in order to appease those who are clinging to the unrealistic dream of universal acceptance and approval, you will be subjected to the view of humanity of the elite — that they are the only ones who matter. For it is God who holds that all human life has intrinsic value:

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, ‘THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR, and hate thine enemy.’

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5: 43-45)

So, if you, therefore, reject God then only the elite will be seen as having any worth or right to life.

In Matthew 22 it states:

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying,

Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?

Jesus said unto him, “‘THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND.’
“This is the first and great commandment.

“And the second is like unto it, ‘THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF.’

“On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22: 35-40)

Notice it is love thy neighbor as thyself, not above God. God has predominance over both neighbor and self. As Jesus said in Matthew 7, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7: 12)

But God still comes first. Treating others as you would have them treat you is kindness. When you put God first, everything else falls into place.

As it says in the Bible, God is no respecter of persons. As Moses states:

For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: (Deuteronomy 10: 17)

The Bible talks of Jesus in this way:

Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle Him in His talk.

And they sent out unto Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man: for Thou regardest not the person of men. (Matthew 22: 15-16)

In the epistle of James it reads,

Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the [Or, that] kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?

But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

If ye fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture, “THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF,” ye do well:

But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the Law as transgressors.

For whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

(James 2: 5-10).

God doesn’t value elites above people with less power.

As Jesus said, “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12)

In conclusion, nothing good comes from allowing elites to try to drive God from our society, so they can rule over us instead.

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JONAH

Jonah 1

Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me.”

But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD [Or, JEHOVAH], the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.

And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech Thee, O LORD, we beseech Thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for Thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased Thee.

So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 1: 1-17).

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Jeremiah 52

Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till He had cast them out from His presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.

So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain.

But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.

Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.

And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.

Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard [Or, chief marshal], which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,

And burned the house of the LORD, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:

And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.

Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.

But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.

Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.

The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls [Or, basons], and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.

And the basons, and the firepans [Or, censers], and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.

The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which King Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.

And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.

And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.

And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:

He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king’s person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host [Or, scribe of the captain of the host], who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.

So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.

And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.

This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:

In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:

In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison,

And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,

And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.

And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life (Jeremiah 52: 1-34).

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Jeremiah 51

Thus saith the LORD; “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against Me, a destroying wind;

“And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.

“Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

“Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.”

For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He will render unto her a recompence.

Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.

Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for His device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of His temple.

Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchman, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which He spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.

O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.

The LORD of hosts hath sworn by Himself, saying, “Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.”

He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by His understanding.

When He uttereth His voice, there is a multitude of waters [Or, noise] in the heavens; and He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: He maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasures.

Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

The portion of Jacob is not like them; for He is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of His inheritance: the LORD of hosts is His name.

“Thou art My battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;

“And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;

“With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;

“I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.

“And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,” saith the LORD.

“Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain,” saith the LORD, “which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.

“And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever,” saith the LORD.

Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.

Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.

And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.

The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.

One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,

And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.

For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.”

Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

Therefore thus saith the LORD; “Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.

“And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.

“They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.

“In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake,” saith the LORD.

“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.

“How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!

“The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

“Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.

“And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

“My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.

“And lest [Or, let not] your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

“Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

“Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north,” saith the LORD.

As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house.

“Wherefore, behold, the days come,” saith the LORD, “that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.

“Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me shall spoilers come unto her,” saith the LORD.

A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:

Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:

Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.

“And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake,” saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; “The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.”

The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.

So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.

And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;

Then shalt thou say, O LORD, Thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:

And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 51: 1-64).

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Jeremiah 50

The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

“Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, ‘Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.’

“For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.

“In those days, and in that time,” saith the LORD, “the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.

“They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

“My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.

“All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, ‘We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’

“Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.

“For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves an array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man [Or, destroyer]; none shall return in vain.

“And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied,” saith the LORD.

“Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of Mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls [Or, neigh as steeds];

“Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

“Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

“Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.

“Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.

“Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.

“Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

“Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; ‘Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.

“‘And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead.

“‘In those days, and in that time,’ saith the LORD, ‘the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.’

“Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod [Or, visitation]: waste and utterly destroy after them,” saith the LORD, “and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

“A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.

“How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

“I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.”

The LORD hath opened His armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.

Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of His temple.

“Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.

“Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day,” saith the LORD.

“Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud,” saith the Lord GOD of hosts: “for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.

“And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.”

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; “The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.

“Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is His name: He shall throughly plead their cause, that He may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

“The sword is upon the Chaldeans,” saith the LORD, “and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.

“A sword is upon the liars [Or, chief stays]; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.

“A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.

“A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.

“Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

“As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof,” saith the LORD; “so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

“Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

“They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride  upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

“The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.

“Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like Me? and who will appoint Me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before Me?”

Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that He hath taken against Babylon; and His purposes, that He hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely He shall make their habitation desolate with them.

At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations (Jeremiah 50: 1-46).

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Philippians 4

Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.

And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest [Or, venerable], whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished [Or, is revived] again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.

Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.

For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.

Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

But I have all [Or, I have received all], and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.

But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you.

All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (Philippians 4: 1-23).

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Jeremiah 49

Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; “Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?

“Therefore, behold, the days come,” saith the LORD, “that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs,” saith the LORD.

“Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.

“Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who shall come unto me?’

“Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee,” saith the Lord GOD of hosts, “from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.

“And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon,” saith the LORD.

Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; “Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?

“Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him.

“If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.

“But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.

“Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in Me.”

For thus saith the LORD; “Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.

“For I have sworn by Myself,” saith the LORD, “that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes”;

I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.

“For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men.

“Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence,” saith the LORD.

“Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.

“As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof,” saith the LORD, “no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.

“Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like Me? and who will appoint Me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before Me?”

Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that He hath taken against Edom; and His purposes, that He hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely He shall make their habitations desolate with them.

The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red Sea.

Behold, He shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread His wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Concerning Damascus. “Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.

“Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.

“How is the city of praise not left, the city of My joy!

“Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,” saith the LORD of hosts.

“And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad.”

Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; “Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.

“Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, ‘Fear is on every side.’

“Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor,” saith the LORD; “for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.

“Arise, get you up unto the wealthy [Or, that is at ease] nation, that dwelleth without care,” saith the LORD, “which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.

“And their camels shall be booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof,” saith the LORD.

“And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.”

The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; ‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

“‘And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

“‘For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even My fierce anger,’ saith the LORD; ‘and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:

“‘And I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes,’ saith the LORD.

“‘But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam,’ ” saith the LORD (Jeremiah 49: 1-39).

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