thetheoreticaljehovist

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

The word of Jehovah that occurred to Zeph·a·niʹah the son of Cushʹi the son of Ged·a·liʹah the son of Am·a·riʹah the son of Hez·e·kiʹah in the days of Jo·siʹah the son of Aʹmon the king of Judah:

Zephaniah 1:1, NWT

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

To obey is better than a sacrifice, to pay attention than the fat of rams: But the people living in Israel ignored that command and kept on following their old customs...

“The word that occurred to Jeremiah from Jehovah after Neb·u’zar·ad’an the chief of the bodyguard sent him from Ra’mah, when he took him while he was bound with handcuffs in the midst of all the exiles of Jerusalem and of Judah, who were being taken into exile in Babylon. Then the chief of the bodyguard took Jeremiah and said to him: “Jehovah your God himself spoke this calamity against this place, that Jehovah might bring [it] true and do just as he has spoken, because YOU people have sinned against Jehovah and have not obeyed his voice. And this thing has happened to YOU. And now, look! I have let you loose today from the handcuffs that were upon your hands. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come, and I shall keep my eye upon you. But if it is bad in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, refrain. See! The entire land is before you. To wherever it is good and right in your eyes to go, go there.”

And he was yet not one that would return, when [Neb·u’zar·ad’an said]: “Do return to Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam the son of Sha’phan, whom the king of Babylon has commissioned over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him in the midst of the people; or to wherever it is right in your eyes to go, go.”

And the chief of the bodyguard then gave him a food allowance and a present and let him go. Accordingly Jeremiah came to Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam at Miz’pah and took up dwelling with him in the midst of the people who were left remaining in the land.

In time all the chiefs of the military forces who were in the field, they and their men, got to hear that the king of Babylon had commissioned Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam over the land and that he had commissioned him [over] the men and women and little children and some of the lowly people of the land, who had not been taken into exile in Babylon. So they came to Ged·a·li’ah at Miz’pah, even Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah and Jo·ha’nan and Jon’a·than, the sons of Ka·re’ah, and Se·rai’ah the son of Tan·hu’meth and the sons of E’phai the Ne·toph’a·thite and Jez·a·ni’ah the son of the Ma·ac’a·thite, they and their men. And Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam the son of Sha’phan proceeded to swear to them and to their men, saying: “Do not be afraid of serving the Chal·de’ans. Continue dwelling in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with YOU. And as for me, here I am dwelling in Miz’pah, in order to stand before the Chal·de’ans who will come to us. And as for YOU yourselves, gather wine and summer fruits and oil and put [them] in YOUR vessels and dwell in YOUR cities that YOU have seized.”

And all the Jews that were in Mo’ab and among the sons of Am’mon and in E’dom and those who were in all the [other] lands, they also heard that the king of Babylon had given a remnant to Judah and that he had commissioned over them Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam the son of Sha’phan. And all the Jews began to return from all the places to which they had been dispersed, and they kept coming into the land of Judah to Ged·a·li’ah at Miz’pah. And they went gathering wine and summer fruits in very great quantity.

As for Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah and all the chiefs of the military forces who were in the field, they came to Ged·a·li’ah at Miz’pah. And they proceeded to say to him: “Do you not at all know that Ba’a·lis, the king of the sons of Am’mon, himself has sent Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah to strike you to the soul?” But Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam did not believe them.

And Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah himself said to Ged·a·li’ah, in a place of concealment in Miz’pah: “I want to go, now, and strike down Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah, as no one at all will know. Why should he strike you to the soul, and why must all those of Judah who are being collected together to you be scattered and the remnant of Judah perish?” But Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam said to Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah: “Do not do this thing, for it is a falsehood that you are speaking concerning Ish’ma·el.”  

So it came about in the seventh month that Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah the son of E·lish’a·ma of the royal offspring and [of the] principal men of the king and ten other men with him came to Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam at Miz’pah. And there they began to eat bread together in Miz’pah. Then Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah and the ten men that happened to be with him rose up and struck down Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam the son of Sha’phan with the sword. So he put to death the one whom the king of Babylon had commissioned over the land. And all the Jews who happened to be with him, that is, with Ged·a·li’ah, in Miz’pah, and the Chal·de’ans who were found there, that is, the men of war, Ish’ma·el struck down.

And it came about on the second day of the putting of Ged·a·li’ah to death, when there was no one at all that knew [it], then there came men from She’chem, from Shi’loh and from Sa·mar’i·a, eighty men with their beards shaved off and with their garments ripped apart and with cuts made upon themselves, and there were grain offering and frankincense in their hand to bring to the house of Jehovah. So Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah went out from Miz’pah to meet them, weeping while he was walking along. And it came about that as soon as he encountered them he proceeded to say to them: “Come to Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam.” But it occurred that as soon as they came into the midst of the city, Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah went slaughtering them [and throwing them] into the midst of the cistern, he and the men that were with him.

But there were ten men that were found among them who immediately said to Ish’ma·el: “Do not put us to death, for there exist in our possession hidden treasures in the field, wheat and barley and oil and honey.” So he refrained, and he did not put them to death in the midst of their brothers. Now the cistern into which Ish’ma·el threw all the carcasses of the men that he had struck down was a great cistern, the one that King A’sa had made because of Ba’a·sha the king of Israel. It was the one that Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah filled with those slain.

Then Ish’ma·el took captive all the remnant of the people who were in Miz’pah, the daughters of the king and all the people who were remaining over in Miz’pah, whom Neb·u’zar·ad’an the chief of the bodyguard had put in the custody of Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam. So Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah took them captive and went off to cross over to the sons of Am’mon.

In time Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah and all the chiefs of the military forces who were with him got to hear all the bad that Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah had done. Consequently they took all the men and went off to fight against Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah and found him by the abundant waters that were in Gib’e·on.

Then it came about that as soon as all the people that were with Ish’ma·el saw Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah and all the chiefs of the military forces who were with him, they began to rejoice. And all the people whom Ish’ma·el had led captive from Miz’pah proceeded to turn around and return and go to Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah. And as for Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah, he escaped with eight men from before Jo·ha’nan, that he might go to the sons of Am’mon.

Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah and all the chiefs of the military forces who were with him now took all the remnant of the people whom they brought back from Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah, from Miz’pah, after he had struck down Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam, able-bodied men, men of war, and the wives and the little children and the court officials, whom he brought back from Gib’e·on. So they went and took up dwelling in the lodging place of Chim’ham that was beside Beth’le·hem, in order to go on and enter into Egypt, because of the Chal·de’ans; for they had become afraid because of them, since Ish’ma·el the son of Neth·a·ni’ah had struck down Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam, whom the king of Babylon had commissioned over the land.  

Then all the chiefs of the military forces and Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah and Jez·a·ni’ah the son of Ho·shai’ah and all the people, from the smallest one even to the greatest one, approached and said to Jeremiah the prophet: “May our request for favor, please, fall before you, and do you pray in our behalf to Jehovah your God, in behalf of all this remnant, for we have been left remaining, a few out of many, just as your eyes are seeing us. And may Jehovah your God tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.”

At that Jeremiah the prophet said to them: “I have heard. Here I am praying to Jehovah YOUR God according to YOUR words; and it will certainly occur that every word that Jehovah gives in answer to YOU I shall tell YOU. I shall not hold back from YOU a word.”

And they, for their part, said to Jeremiah: “May Jehovah prove to be a true and faithful witness against us if it is not according to every word with which Jehovah your God sends you to us that we shall exactly do. Whether good or bad, it is the voice of Jehovah our God to whom we are sending you that we shall obey, to the intent that it may go well with us because we obey the voice of Jehovah our God.”

Now it came about at the end of ten days that the word of Jehovah proceeded to occur to Jeremiah. So he called for Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah and for all the chiefs of the military forces who were with him and for all the people, from the smallest one even to the greatest one; and he went on to say to them: “This is what Jehovah the God of Israel, to whom YOU sent me to cause your request for favor to fall before him, has said, ‘If YOU will without fail keep dwelling in this land, I will also build YOU up and I shall not tear [YOU] down, and I will plant YOU and I shall not uproot [YOU]; for I shall certainly feel regret over the calamity that I have caused to YOU. Do not be afraid because of the king of Babylon, of whom YOU are in fear.’

“‘Do not be afraid because of him,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘for I am with YOU, in order to save YOU and to deliver YOU out of his hand. And I shall give to YOU mercies, and he will certainly have mercy upon YOU and return YOU to YOUR own soil.

“‘But if YOU are saying: “No; we are not going to dwell in this land!” in order to disobey the voice of Jehovah YOUR God, saying: “No, but into the land of Egypt we shall enter, where we shall see no war and the sound of the horn we shall not hear and for bread we shall not go hungry; and there is where we shall dwell”; even now therefore hear the word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah. This is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said: “If YOU yourselves positively set YOUR faces to enter into Egypt and YOU actually enter in to reside there as aliens, it must also occur that the very sword of which YOU are afraid will there catch up with YOU in the land of Egypt, and the very famine at which YOU are in a fright will there closely follow after YOU to Egypt; and there is where YOU will die. And it will come about that all the men that have set their faces to enter into Egypt to reside there as aliens will be the ones to die by the sword, by the famine and by the pestilence; and they will not come to have a survivor or an escapee, because of the calamity that I am bringing in upon them.”’

“For this is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said, ‘Just as my anger and my rage have been poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my rage will be poured out upon YOU because of YOUR entering into Egypt, and YOU will certainly become a curse and an object of astonishment and a malediction and a reproach, and you will no more see this place.’

“Jehovah has spoken against YOU, O remnant of Judah. Do not enter into Egypt. YOU should positively know that I have borne witness against YOU today, that YOU have committed error against YOUR souls; for YOU yourselves have sent me to Jehovah YOUR God, saying, ‘Pray in our behalf to Jehovah our God; and according to everything that Jehovah our God says tell us that way, and we shall certainly do.’ And I tell YOU today, but YOU will certainly not obey the voice of Jehovah YOUR God or anything with which he has sent me to YOU. And now YOU should positively know that by the sword, by the famine and by the pestilence YOU will die in the place into which YOU do delight to enter to reside as aliens.”  

Now it came about that as soon as Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all the words of Jehovah their God with which Jehovah their God had sent him to them, even all these words, Az·a·ri’ah the son of Ho·shai’ah and Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah and all the presumptuous men proceeded to say to Jeremiah: “It is a falsehood that you are speaking. Jehovah our God has not sent you, saying, ‘Do not enter into Egypt to reside there as aliens.’ But Bar’uch the son of Ne·ri’ah is instigating you against us for the purpose of giving us into the hand of the Chal·de’ans, to put us to death or to take us into exile in Babylon.”

And Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah and all the chiefs of the military forces and all the people did not obey the voice of Jehovah, to keep on dwelling in the land of Judah. So Jo·ha’nan the son of Ka·re’ah and all the chiefs of the military forces took all the remnant of Judah that had returned from all the nations to which they had been dispersed, in order to reside for a while in the land of Judah, even the able-bodied men and the wives and the little children and the daughters of the king and every soul that Neb·u’zar·ad’an the chief of the bodyguard had let stay with Ged·a·li’ah the son of A·hi’kam the son of Sha’phan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Bar’uch the son of Ne·riah.  And they finally came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of Jehovah; and they came gradually as far as Tah’pan·hes.

Then the word of Jehovah occurred to Jeremiah in Tah’pan·hes, saying: “Take in your hand great stones, and you must hide them in the mortar in the terrace of bricks that is at the entrance of the house of Phar’aoh in Tah’pan·hes before the eyes of the Jewish men. And you must say to them, ‘This is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said: “Here I am sending and I will take Neb·u·chad·rez’zar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will place his throne right above these stones that I have hidden, and he will certainly extend his state tent over them. And he must come in and strike the land of Egypt. Whoever is [due] for deadly plague will be for deadly plague, and whoever is [due] for captivity will be for captivity, and whoever is [due] for the sword will be for the sword. And I will set a fire ablaze in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he will certainly burn them and lead them captive and wrap himself up in the land of Egypt, just as a shepherd wraps himself up in his garment, and he will actually go out from there in peace. And he will certainly break to pieces the pillars of Beth-she’mesh, which is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.”’”  

The word that occurred to Jeremiah for all the Jews that were dwelling in the land of Egypt, the ones dwelling in Mig’dol and in Tah’pan·hes and in Noph and in the land of Path’ros, saying: “This is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said, ‘YOU yourselves have seen all the calamity that I have brought in upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah, and here they are a devastated place this day, and in them there is no inhabitant. It is because of their badness that they did in order to offend me by going and making sacrificial smoke and rendering service to other gods whom they themselves had not known, neither YOU nor YOUR forefathers. And I kept sending to YOU all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying: “Do not do, please, this detestable sort of thing that I have hated.” But they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear to turn back from their badness by not making sacrificial smoke to other gods. So my rage, and my anger, was poured out and it burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they came to be a devastated place, a desolate waste, as at this day.’

“And now this is what Jehovah, the God of armies, the God of Israel, has said, ‘Why are YOU causing a great calamity to YOUR souls, in order to cut off from yourselves man and woman, child and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, so that YOU do not leave over for yourselves a remnant; by offending me with the works of YOUR hands by making sacrificial smoke to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which YOU are entering to reside as aliens; for the purpose of causing a cutting off of yourselves and for the purpose of YOUR becoming a malediction and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? Have YOU forgotten the bad deeds of YOUR forefathers and the bad deeds of the kings of Judah and the bad deeds of their wives and YOUR own bad deeds and the bad deeds of YOUR wives, that they have done in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? And down to this day they did not feel crushed, and they did not become afraid, nor did they walk in my law and in my statutes that I put before YOU and before YOUR forefathers.’

“Therefore this is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said, ‘Here I am setting my face against YOU for calamity and for cutting off all Judah. And I will take the remnant of Judah who set their faces to enter into the land of Egypt to reside there as aliens, and they will all certainly come to their finish in the land of Egypt. They will fall by the sword; [and] by the famine they will come to their finish, from the smallest one even to the greatest one; by the sword and by the famine they will die. And they must become a curse, an object of astonishment and a malediction and a reproach. And I will hold an accounting against those dwelling in the land of Egypt, just as I held an accounting against Jerusalem, with the sword, with the famine and with the pestilence. And there will come to be no escapee or survivor for the remnant of Judah who are entering in to reside there as aliens, in the land of Egypt, even to return to the land of Judah to which they are lifting up their soul[ful desire] to return in order to dwell; for they will not return, except some escaped ones.’”

And all the men who were knowing that their wives had been making sacrificial smoke to other gods, and all the wives who were standing as a great congregation, and all the people who were dwelling in the land of Egypt, in Path’ros, proceeded to answer Jeremiah, saying: “As regards the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Jehovah, we are not listening to you; but we shall positively do every word that has gone forth from our mouth, in order to make sacrificial smoke to the ‘queen of the heavens’ and to pour out to her drink offerings, just as we ourselves and our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, when we used to be satisfied with bread and to be well off, and we did not see any calamity at all. And from the time that we ceased to make sacrificial smoke to the ‘queen of the heavens’ and pour out drink offerings to her we have lacked everything, and by the sword and by the famine we have come to our finish.

“Also, when we were making sacrificial smoke to the ‘queen of the heavens’ and [were disposed] to pour out drink offerings to her, did we without asking our husbands make for her sacrificial cakes, in order to make an image of her, and to pour out drink offerings to her?”

In turn Jeremiah said to all the people, to the able-bodied men and to the wives and to all the people, who were answering him with a word, saying: “As for the sacrificial smoke that YOU made in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, YOU and YOUR forefathers, YOUR kings and YOUR princes and the people of the land, was it not this that Jehovah remembered and that proceeded to come up into his heart? Finally Jehovah was no longer able to put up with it because of the badness of YOUR dealings, because of the detestable things that YOU had done, and so YOUR land came to be a devastated place and an object of astonishment and a malediction, without an inhabitant, as at this day. Because of the fact that YOU made sacrificial smoke and that YOU sinned against Jehovah and did not obey the voice of Jehovah and in his law and in his statutes and in his reminders YOU did not walk, that is why there has befallen YOU this calamity as at this day.”

And Jeremiah continued on to say to all the people and to all the women: “Hear the word of Jehovah, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt. This is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said, ‘As for YOU men and YOUR wives, YOU women also speak with YOUR mouths, (and with YOUR hands YOU people have made a fulfillment,) saying: “We shall without fail perform our vows that we have vowed, to make sacrificial smoke to the ‘queen of the heavens’ and to pour out drink offerings to her.” YOU women will without fail carry out YOUR vows, and YOU will without fail perform YOUR vows.’

“Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, all Judah who are dwelling in the land of Egypt, ‘“Here I myself have sworn by my great name,” Jehovah has said, “that my name will no more prove to be something called out by the mouth of any man of Judah, saying, ‘As the Sovereign Lord Jehovah is alive!’ in all the land of Egypt. Here I am keeping alert toward them for calamity and not for good; and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt will certainly come to their finish by the sword and by the famine, until they cease to be. And as for the ones escaping from the sword, they will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all those of the remnant of Judah, who are coming into the land of Egypt to reside there as aliens, will certainly know whose word comes true, that from me or that from them.”’”

“‘And this is the sign for YOU,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘that I am turning my attention upon YOU in this place, in order that YOU may know that my words will without fail come true upon YOU for calamity: This is what Jehovah has said: “Here I am giving Phar’aoh Hoph’ra, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those seeking for his soul, just as I have given Zed·e·ki’ah the king of Judah into the hand of Neb·u·chad·rez’zar the king of Babylon, his enemy and the one seeking for his soul.”’”

-Jeremiah 40-44, NWT

We Shall Without Fail Perform Our Vows That We Have Vowed, To Make Sacrificial Smoke To The ‘Queen of The Heavens’

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

I shall without fail finish everything off the surface of the ground,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

Zephaniah 1:2, NWT

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

Their finish is destruction: As for the wicked, they will not keep residing on the earth...

The word that occurred to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying: “Stand in the gate of the house of Jehovah, and you must proclaim there this word, and you must say, ‘Hear the word of Jehovah, all YOU of Judah, who are entering into these gates to bow down to Jehovah. This is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said: “Make YOUR ways and YOUR dealings good, and I will keep YOU people residing in this place. Do not put YOUR trust in fallacious words, saying, ‘The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah they are!’ For if YOU will positively make YOUR ways and YOUR dealings good, if YOU will positively carry out justice between a man and his companion, if no alien resident, no fatherless boy and no widow YOU will oppress, and innocent blood YOU will not shed in this place, and after other gods YOU will not walk for calamity to yourselves, I, in turn, shall certainly keep YOU residing in this place, in the land that I gave to YOUR forefathers, from time indefinite even to time indefinite.”’”

“Here YOU are putting YOUR trust in fallacious words—it will certainly be of no benefit at all. Can there be stealing, murdering and committing adultery and swearing falsely and making sacrificial smoke to Ba’al and walking after other gods whom YOU had not known, and must YOU come and stand before me in this house upon which my name has been called, and must YOU say, ‘We shall certainly be delivered,’ in the face of doing all these detestable things? Has this house upon which my name has been called become a mere cave of robbers in YOUR eyes? Here I myself also have seen [it],” is the utterance of Jehovah.

“‘However, GO, now, to my place that was in Shiʹloh, where I caused my name to reside at first, and see what I did to it because of the badness of my people Israel. And now for the reason that YOU kept doing all these works,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and I kept speaking to YOU, getting up early and speaking, but YOU did not listen, and I kept calling YOU, but YOU did not answer, I will do also to the house upon which my name has been called, in which YOU are trusting, and to the place that I gave to YOU and to YOUR forefathers, just as I did to Shi’loh. And I will throw YOU out from before my face, just as I threw out all YOUR brothers, the whole offspring of E’phra·im.’

“And as for you, do not pray in behalf of this people, neither raise in their behalf an entreating cry or a prayer nor beseech me, for I shall not be listening to you. Are you not seeing what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The sons are picking up sticks of wood, and the fathers are lighting the fire, and the wives are kneading flour dough in order to make sacrificial cakes to the ‘queen of the heavens’; and there is a pouring out of drink offerings to other gods for the purpose of offending me. ‘Is it I whom they are offending?’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘Is it not they themselves, for the purpose of shame to their faces?’ Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘Look! My anger and my rage are being poured forth upon this place, upon mankind and upon domestic animal, and upon the tree of the field and upon the fruitage of the ground; and it must burn, and it will not be extinguished.’

“This is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said, ‘Add those whole burnt offerings of YOURS to YOUR sacrifices and eat flesh. For I did not speak with YOUR forefathers, nor did I command them in the day of my bringing them out from the land of Egypt concerning the matters of whole burnt offering and sacrifice. But this word I did express in command upon them, saying: “Obey my voice, and I will become YOUR God, and YOU yourselves will become my people; and YOU must walk in all the way that I shall command YOU, in order that it may go well with YOU.”’ But they did not listen, neither did they incline their ear, but they went walking in the counsels in the stubbornness of their bad heart, so that they became backward in direction and not forward, from the day that YOUR forefathers came forth out of the land of Egypt until this day; and I kept sending to YOU all my servants the prophets, daily getting up early and sending [them]. But they did not listen to me, and they did not incline their ear, but they kept hardening their neck. They acted worse than their forefathers!

“And you must speak to them all these words, but they will not listen to you; and you must call to them, but they will not answer you. And you must say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah its God, and have not taken discipline. Faithfulness has perished, and it has been cut off from their mouth.’

“Shear off your uncut hair and throw [it] away, and upon the bare hills raise a dirge, for Jehovah has rejected and will desert the generation with which he is furious. ‘For the sons of Judah have done what is bad in my eyes,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘They have set their disgusting things in the house upon which my name has been called, in order to defile it. And they have built the high places of To’pheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hin’nom, in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come up into my heart.’

“‘Therefore, look! days are coming,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘when it will no more be said [to be] To’pheth and the valley of the son of Hin’nom, but the valley of the killing; and they will have to bury in To’pheth without there being enough place. And the dead bodies of this people must become food for the flying creatures of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth, with nobody to make [them] tremble. And I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of exultation and the voice of rejoicing, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become nothing but a devastated place.’”

“At that time,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “people will also bring forth the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of its princes and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves. And they will actually spread them out to the sun and to the moon and to all the army of the heavens that they have loved and that they have served and that they have walked after and that they have sought and that they have bowed down to. They will not be gathered, nor will they be buried. As manure upon the face of the ground they will become.”

“And death will certainly be chosen rather than life on the part of all the remnant of those remaining out of this bad family in all the places of the remaining ones, where I will have dispersed them,” is the utterance of Jehovah of armies.

“And you must say to them, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: “Will they fall and not get up again? If one would turn back, will the other not also turn back? Why is it that this people, Jerusalem, is unfaithful with an enduring unfaithfulness? They have taken hold of trickiness; they have refused to turn back. I have paid attention, and I kept listening. It was not right the way they kept speaking. There was not a man repenting over his badness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Each one is going back into the popular course, like a horse that is dashing into the battle. Even the stork in the heavens—it well knows its appointed times; and the turtledove and the swift and the bulbul—they observe well the time of each one’s coming in. But as for my people, they have not come to know the judgment of Jehovah.”’

“‘How can YOU men say: “We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us”? Surely, now, the false stylus of the secretaries has worked in sheer falsehood. The wise ones have become ashamed. They have become terrified and will be caught. Look! They have rejected the very word of Jehovah, and what wisdom do they have? Therefore I shall give their wives to other men, their fields to those taking possession; for, from the least one even to the greatest one, each one is making unjust gain; from the prophet even to the priest, each one is acting falsely. And they try to heal the breakdown of the daughter of my people lightly, saying: “There is peace! There is peace!” when there is no peace. Did they feel shame because they had done even what was detestable? For one thing, they positively could not feel ashamed; for another thing, they did not know even how to feel humiliated.

“‘Therefore they will fall among those who are falling. In the time of their being given attention, they will stumble,’ Jehovah has said.

“‘When doing the gathering, I shall bring them to their finish,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘There will be no grapes on the vine, and there will be no figs on the fig tree, and the foliage itself will certainly wither. And things that I give to them will pass by them.’”

“Why are we sitting still? Gather yourselves together, and let us enter into the fortified cities and be silent there. For Jehovah our God has himself put us to silence, and he gives us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against Jehovah. There was a hoping for peace, but no good [came]; for a time of healing, but, look! terror! From Dan has been heard the snorting of his horses. Due to the sound of the neighing of his stallions the whole land has begun to rock. And they come in and eat up the land and what fills it, the city and its inhabitants.”

“For here I am sending in among YOU serpents, poisonous snakes, for which there is no charming, and they will certainly bite YOU,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

A grief that is beyond curing has come up into me. My heart is ill. Here there is the sound of the cry for help of the daughter of my people from a land far away: “Is Jehovah not in Zion? Or is her king not in her?”

“Why is it that they have offended me with their graven images, with their vain foreign gods?”  “The harvest has passed, the summer has come to an end; but as for us, we have not been saved!”

Over the breakdown of the daughter of my people I have become shattered. I have grown sad. Outright astonishment has seized hold of me. Is there no balsam in Gil’e·ad? Or is there no healer there? Why is it, then, that the recuperation of the daughter of my people has not come up?

O that my head were waters, and that my eyes were a source of tears! Then I could weep day and night for the slain ones of the daughter of my people.

O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of travelers! Then I would leave my people and go away from them, for all of them are adulterers, a solemn assembly of treacherous dealers; and they bend their tongue as their bow in falsehood; but not for faithfulness have they proved mighty in the land.

“For from badness to badness they went forth, and they ignored even me,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

“Guard yourselves each one against his own companion, and put YOUR trust in no brother at all. For even every brother would positively supplant, and every companion himself would walk around as a mere slanderer, and they keep trifling each one with his companion; and they speak no truth at all. They have taught their tongue to speak falsehood. They have tired themselves out merely in doing wrong.

“Your sitting is in the midst of deception. Through deception they have refused to know me,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

Therefore this is what Jehovah of armies has said: “Here I am smelting them, and I have to examine them, because how otherwise shall I act on account of the daughter of my people? Their tongue is a slaughtering arrow. Deception is what it has spoken. With his mouth, peace is what [a person] keeps speaking with his own companion; but within himself he sets his ambush.”

“Because of these things should I not hold an accounting with them?” is the utterance of Jehovah. “Or upon a nation that is like this should not my soul avenge itself? Over the mountains I shall raise a weeping and lamentation, and over the pasture grounds of the wilderness a dirge; for they will have been burned so that there is no man passing through and people actually will not hear the sound of livestock. Both the flying creature of the heavens and the beast will have fled; they will have gone. And I will make Jerusalem piles of stones, the lair of jackals; and the cities of Judah I shall make a desolate waste, without an inhabitant.

“Who is the man that is wise, that he may understand this, even the one to whom the mouth of Jehovah has spoken, that he may tell it? On what account should the land actually perish, be actually burned like the wilderness without anyone passing through?”

And Jehovah proceeded to say: “On account of their leaving my law that I gave [to be] before them, and [because] they have not obeyed my voice and have not walked in it, but they kept on walking after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Ba’al images, about which their fathers had taught them; therefore this is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said, ‘Here I am making them, that is, this people, eat wormwood, and I will make them drink poisoned water; and I will scatter them among the nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send after them the sword until I shall have exterminated them.’

“This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Behave with understanding, YOU people, and call the dirge-chanting women, that they may come; and send even to the skilled women, that they may come, and that they may hurry and raise up over us a lamentation. And may our eyes run down with tears and our own beaming eyes trickle with waters. For the voice of lamentation is what has been heard from Zion: “How we have been despoiled! How much we have felt shame! For we have left the land; for they have thrown away our residences.” But hear, O YOU women, the word of Jehovah, and may YOUR ear take the word of his mouth. Then teach YOUR daughters a lamentation, and each woman her companion a dirge. For death has come up through our windows; it has come into our dwelling towers, in order to cut off the child from the street, the young men from the public squares.’

“Speak, ‘This is what the utterance of Jehovah is: “The dead bodies of mankind must also fall like manure upon the face of the field and like a row of newly cut grain after the reaper, with no one to do the gathering up.”’”

This is what Jehovah has said: “Let not the wise man brag about himself because of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man brag about himself because of his mightiness. Let not the rich man brag about himself because of his riches.”

“But let the one bragging about himself brag about himself because of this very thing, the having of insight and the having of knowledge of me, that I am Jehovah, the One exercising loving-kindness, justice and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I do take delight,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

“Look! Days are coming,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “and I will hold an accounting with everyone circumcised [but still] in uncircumcision, upon Egypt and upon Judah and upon E’dom and upon the sons of Am’mon and upon Mo’ab and upon all those with hair clipped at the temples who are dwelling in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

-Jeremiah 7-9, NWT

They Kept On Walking After The Stubbornness Of Their Heart And After The Ba’al Images

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

I shall finish off earthling man and beast. I shall finish off the flying creature of the heavens and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked ones; and I will cut off mankind from the surface of the ground,” is the utterance of Jehovah. “And I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will cut off from this place the remaining ones of the Baʹal, the name of the foreign-god priests along with the priests, and those who are bowing down upon the roofs to the army of the heavens, and those who are bowing down, making sworn oaths to Jehovah and making sworn oaths by Malʹcam; and those who are drawing back from following Jehovah and who have not sought Jehovah and have not inquired of him.

Zephaniah 1:3-6, NWT

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

Woe To Ariel: This is the counsel that is counseled against all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations...

“In the year that King Uz·zi’ah died I, however, got to see Jehovah, sitting on a throne lofty and lifted up, and his skirts were filling the temple. Seraphs were standing above him. Each one had six wings. With two he kept his face covered, and with two he kept his feet covered, and with two he would fly about. And this one called to that one and said: “Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of armies. The fullness of all the earth is his glory.” And the pivots of the thresholds began to quiver at the voice of the one calling, and the house itself gradually filled with smoke.

And I proceeded to say: “Woe to me! For I am as good as brought to silence, because a man unclean in lips I am, and in among a people unclean in lips I am dwelling; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of armies, himself!”

At that, one of the seraphs flew to me, and in his hand there was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs off the altar. And he proceeded to touch my mouth and to say: “Look! This has touched your lips, and your error has departed and your sin itself is atoned for.”

And I began to hear the voice of Jehovah saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I proceeded to say: “Here I am! Send me.” And he went on to say: “Go, and you must say to this people, ‘Hear again and again, O men, but do not understand; and see again and again, but do not get any knowledge.’ Make the heart of this people unreceptive, and make their very ears unresponsive, and paste their very eyes together, that they may not see with their eyes and with their ears they may not hear, and that their own heart may not understand and that they may not actually turn back and get healing for themselves.”

At this I said: “How long, O Jehovah?” Then he said: “Until the cities actually crash in ruins, to be without an inhabitant, and the houses be without earthling man, and the ground itself is ruined into a desolation; and Jehovah actually removes earthling men far away, and the deserted condition does become very extensive in the midst of the land. And there will still be in it a tenth, and it must again become something for burning down, like a big tree and like a massive tree in which, when there is a cutting down [of them], there is a stump; a holy seed will be the stump of it.”

Now it came about in the days of A’haz the son of Jo’tham the son of Uz·zi’ah, the king of Judah, that Re’zin the king of Syria and Pe’kah the son of Rem·a·li’ah, the king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem for war against it, and he proved unable to war against it. And a report was made to the house of David, saying: “Syria has leaned upon E’phra·im.”

And his heart and the heart of his people began to quiver, like the quivering of the trees of the forest because of a wind.

And Jehovah proceeded to say to Isaiah: “Go out, please, to meet A’haz, you and She’ar-ja’shub your son, to the end of the conduit of the upper pool by the highway of the laundryman’s field. And you must say to him, ‘Watch yourself and keep undisturbed. Do not be afraid, and do not let your heart itself be timid because of the two tail ends of these smoking logs, because of the hot anger of Re’zin and Syria and the son of Rem·a·li’ah, for the reason that Syria [with] E’phra·im and the son of Rem·a·li’ah has advised what is bad against you, saying: “Let us go up against Judah and tear it apart and by breakthroughs take it for ourselves; and let us make another king reign inside it, the son of Tab’e·el.”

“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “It will not stand, neither will it take place. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Re’zin; and within just sixty-five years E’phra·im will be shattered to pieces so as not to be a people. And the head of E’phra·im is Sa·mar’i·a, and the head of Sa·mar’i·a is the son of Rem·a·li’ah. Unless YOU people have faith, YOU will in that case not be of long duration.”’”

And Jehovah went on speaking some more to A’haz, saying: “Ask for yourself a sign from Jehovah your God, making it as deep as She’ol or making it high as the upper regions.” But Aʹhaz said: “I shall not ask, neither shall I put Jehovah to the test.”

And he proceeded to say: “Listen, please, O house of David. Is it such a little thing for YOU to tire out men, that YOU should also tire out my God? Therefore Jehovah himself will give YOU men a sign: Look! The maiden herself will actually become pregnant, and she is giving birth to a son, and she will certainly call his name Im·man’u·el. Butter and honey he will eat by the time that he knows how to reject the bad and choose the good. For before the boy will know how to reject the bad and choose the good, the ground of whose two kings you are feeling a sickening dread will be left entirely. Jehovah will bring against you and against your people and against the house of your father days such as have not come since the day of E’phra·im’s turning away from alongside Judah, namely, the king of As·syr’i·a.

“And it must occur in that day that Jehovah will whistle for the flies that are at the extremity of the Nile canals of Egypt and for the bees that are in the land of As·syr’i·a, and they will certainly come in and settle down, all of them, upon the precipitous torrent valleys and upon the clefts of the crags and upon all the thorn thickets and upon all the watering places.

“In that day, by means of a hired razor in the region of the River, even by means of the king of As·syr’i·a,  Jehovah will shave the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away even the beard itself.

“And it must occur in that day that an individual will preserve alive a young cow of the herd and two sheep. And it must occur that, due to the abundance of the producing of milk, he will eat butter; because butter and honey are what everyone left remaining in the midst of the land will eat.

“And it must occur in that day that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand pieces of silver, will come to be—for the thornbushes and for the weeds it will come to be. With arrows and the bow he will come there, because all the land will become mere thornbushes and weeds. And all the mountains that used to be cleared of troublesome plants with a hoe—you will not come there for fear of thornbushes and weeds; and it will certainly become a place for letting bulls loose and a trampling ground of sheep.”

And Jehovah proceeded to say to me: “Take for yourself a large tablet and write upon it with the stylus of mortal man, ‘Ma’her-shal’al-hash-baz.’ And let me have attestation for myself by faithful witnesses, U·ri’ah the priest and Zech·a·ri’ah the son of Je·ber·e·chi’ah.”

Then I went near to the prophetess, and she came to be pregnant and in time gave birth to a son. Jehovah now said to me: “Call his name Ma’her-shal’al-hash-baz, for before the boy will know how to call out, ‘My father!’ and ‘My mother!’ one will carry away the resources of Damascus and the spoil of Sa·mar’i·a before the king of As·syrʹi·a.”

And Jehovah proceeded to speak yet further to me, saying: “For the reason that this people has rejected the waters of the Shi·lo’ah that are going gently, and there is exultation over Re’zin and the son of Rem·a·li’ah; even therefore, look! Jehovah is bringing up against them the mighty and the many waters of the River, the king of As·syr’i·a and all his glory. And he will certainly come up over all his streambeds and go over all his banks  and move on through Judah. He will actually flood and pass over. Up to the neck he will reach. And the outspreading of his wings must occur to fill the breadth of your land, O Im·man’u·el!”

Be injurious, O YOU peoples, and be shattered to pieces; and give ear, all YOU in distant parts of the earth! Gird yourselves, and be shattered to pieces! Gird yourselves, and be shattered to pieces! Plan out a scheme, and it will be broken up! Speak any word, and it will not stand, for God is with us! For this is what Jehovah has said to me with strongness of the hand, that he may make me turn aside from walking in the way of this people, saying: “YOU men must not say, ‘A conspiracy!’ respecting all that of which this people keep saying, ‘A conspiracy!’ and the object of their fear YOU men must not fear, nor must YOU tremble at it. Jehovah of armies—he is the One whom YOU should treat as holy, and he should be the object of YOUR fear, and he should be the One causing YOU to tremble.”

And he must become as a sacred place; but as a stone to strike against and as a rock over which to stumble to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and as a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them will be certain to stumble and to fall and be broken, and to be snared and caught.

Wrap up the attestation, put a seal about the law among my disciples! And I will keep in expectation of Jehovah, who is concealing his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.

Look! I and the children whom Jehovah has given me are as signs and as miracles in Israel from Jehovah of armies, who is residing in Mount Zion.

And in case they should say to YOU people: “Apply to the spiritistic mediums or to those having a spirit of prediction who are chirping and making utterances in low tones,” is it not to its God that any people should apply? [Should there be application] to dead persons in behalf of living persons? To the law and to the attestation!

Surely they will keep saying what is according to this statement that will have no light of dawn. And each one will certainly pass through the land hard pressed and hungry; and it must occur that because he is hungry and has made himself feel indignant, he will actually call down evil upon his king and upon his God and will certainly peer upward. And to the earth he will look, and, lo! distress and darkness, obscurity, hard times and gloominess with no brightness.

However, the obscureness will not be as when the land had stress, as at the former time when one treated with contempt the land of Zeb’u·lun and the land of Naph’ta·li and when at the later time one caused [it] to be honored —the way by the sea, in the region of the Jordan, Gal’i·lee of the nations. The people that were walking in the darkness have seen a great light. As for those dwelling in the land of deep shadow, light itself has shone upon them. You have made the nation populous; for it you have made the rejoicing great. They have rejoiced before you as with the rejoicing in the harvesttime, as those who are joyful when they divide up the spoil.

For the yoke of their load and the rod upon their shoulders, the staff of the one driving them to work, you have shattered to pieces as in the day of Mid’i·an. For every boot of the one tramping with tremors and the mantle rolled in blood have even come to be for burning as food for fire. For there has been a child born to us, there has been a son given to us; and the princely rule will come to be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. To the abundance of the princely rule and to peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom in order to establish it firmly and to sustain it by means of justice and by means of righteousness, from now on and to time indefinite. The very zeal of Jehovah of armies will do this.

There was a word that Jehovah sent against Jacob, and it fell upon Israel. And the people will certainly know [it], even all of them, E’phra·im and the inhabitant of Sa·mar’i·a, because of [their] haughtiness and because of [their] insolence of heart in saying: “Bricks are what have fallen, but with hewn stone we shall build. Sycamore trees are what have been cut down, but with cedars we shall make replacement.” And Jehovah will set the adversaries of Re’zin on high against him, and the enemies of that one he will goad on, Syria from the east and the Phi·lis’tines from behind, and they will eat up Israel with open mouth. In view of all this his anger has not turned back, but his hand is stretched out still.

And the people themselves have not returned to the One striking them, and Jehovah of armies they have not sought. And Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, shoot and rush, in one day. The aged and highly respected one is the head, and the prophet giving false instruction is the tail. And those who are leading this people on prove to be the ones causing [them] to wander; and those of them who are being led on, the ones who are being confused. That is why Jehovah will not rejoice even over their young men, and upon their fatherless boys and upon their widows he will have no mercy; because all of them are apostates and evildoers and every mouth is speaking senselessness. In view of all this his anger has not turned back, but his hand is stretched out still.

For wickedness has become aflame just like a fire; thornbushes and weeds it will eat up. And it will catch fire in the thickets of the forest, and they will be borne aloft as the billowing of smoke. In the fury of Jehovah of armies the land has been set afire, and the people will become as food for the fire. No one will show compassion even on his brother. And one will cut down on the right and will certainly be hungry; and one will eat on the left, and they will certainly not be satisfied. They will each one eat the flesh of his own arm, Ma·nas’seh E’phra·im, and E’phra·im Ma·nasʹseh. Together they will be against Judah. In view of all this his anger has not turned back, but his hand is stretched out still.

-Isaiah 6-9, NWT

He Will Actually Call Down Evil Upon His King And Upon His God And Will Certainly Peer Upward

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

Keep silence before the Sovereign Lord Jehovah; for the day of Jehovah is near, for Jehovah has prepared a sacrifice; he has sanctified his invited ones. “And it must occur on the day of Jehovah’s sacrifice that I will give attention to the princes, and to the sons of the king, and to all those wearing foreign attire. And I will give attention to everyone that is climbing upon the platform in that day, those who are filling the house of their masters with violence and deception. And there must occur on that day,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “the sound of an outcry from the Fish Gate, and a howling from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. Howl, YOU inhabitants of Makʹtesh, for all the people who are tradesmen have been silenced; all those weighing out silver have been cut off. “And it must occur at that time that I shall carefully search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will give attention to the men who are congealing upon their dregs [and] who are saying in their heart, ‘Jehovah will not do good, and he will not do bad.’ And their wealth must come to be for pillage and their houses for a desolate waste. And they will build houses, but they will not have occupancy; and they will plant vineyards, but they will not drink the wine of them. “The great day of Jehovah is near. It is near, and there is a hurrying [of it] very much. The sound of the day of Jehovah is bitter. There a mighty man is letting out a cry. That day is a day of fury, a day of distress and of anguish, a day of storm and of desolation, a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick gloom, a day of horn and of alarm signal, against the fortified cities and against the high corner towers. And I will cause distress to mankind, and they will certainly walk like blind men; because it is against Jehovah that they have sinned. And their blood will actually be poured out like dust, and their bowels like the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s fury; but by the fire of his zeal the whole earth will be devoured, because he will make an extermination, indeed a terrible one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zephaniah 1:7-18, NWT

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

By the sword you will fall. On the border of Israel I shall judge you: An exterminating and a strict decision the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, will be executing in the midst of the whole land...

“And the word of Jehovah continued to occur to me, saying: “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and drip [words] toward the holy places, and prophesy against the soil of Israel. And you must say to the soil of Israel, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: “Here I am against you, and I will bring forth my sword out of its sheath and cut off from you righteous one and wicked one. In order that I may actually cut off from you righteous one and wicked one, therefore my sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. And all those of flesh will have to know that I myself, Jehovah, have brought forth my sword from its sheath. No more will it go back.”’

“And as for you, O son of man, sigh with shaking hips. Even with bitterness you should sigh before their eyes. And it must occur that, in case they say to you, ‘On account of what are you sighing?’ you must say, ‘At a report.’ For it will certainly come, and every heart must melt and all hands must drop down and every spirit must become dejected and all knees themselves will drip with water. ‘Look! It will certainly come and be brought to occur,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”

And the word of Jehovah continued to occur to me, saying: “Son of man, prophesy, and you must say, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: “Say, ‘A sword, a sword! It has been sharpened, and it is also polished. For the purpose of organizing a slaughter it has been sharpened; for the purpose of its getting a glitter it has been polished.’”’” “Or shall we exult?” “‘Is it rejecting the scepter of my own son, as [it does] every tree?

“‘And one gives it to be polished, in order to wield [it] with the hand. It—a sword has been sharpened, and it—it has been polished, in order to give it into the hand of a killer.

“‘Cry out and howl, O son of man, for it itself has come to be against my people; it is against all the chieftains of Israel. The very ones hurled to the sword have come to be with my people. Therefore make a slap on [the] thigh. For an extermination has been made, and what [of it] if it is rejecting also the scepter? This will not continue existing,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.

“And you, O son of man—prophesy, and strike palm against palm, and ‘A sword!’ should be repeated for three times. The sword of the slain ones it is. It is the sword of someone slain who is great, which is making an encirclement of them. In order for the heart to melt and [in order] to multiply those who are overthrown at all their gates, I will make a slaughter by the sword. Alas, it is made for a glittering, polished for a slaughter! Show yourself sharp; go to the right! Set your position; go to the left! To wherever your face is directed! And I myself also shall strike my one palm against my other palm, and I will bring my rage to its rest. I myself, Jehovah, have spoken.”

And the word of Jehovah continued to occur to me, saying: “And as for you, O son of man, set for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to enter. From the one land both of them should go forth, and an [index] hand should be cut out; at the head of the way to the city it should be cut out. A way you should set for [the] sword to enter against Rab’bah of the sons of Am’mon, and [one] against Judah, against Jerusalem fortified. For the king of Babylon stood still at the crossways, at the head of the two ways, in order to resort to divination. He has shaken the arrows. He has asked by means of the teraphim; he has looked into the liver. In his right hand the divination proved to be for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open one’s mouth for a slaying, to raise the sound in an alarm signal, to set battering rams against gates, to throw up a siege rampart, to build a siege wall. And it has become to them like an untrue divination in their eyes—those who are sworn with oaths to them; and he is calling error to remembrance, in order [for them] to be caught.

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘By reason of YOUR causing YOUR error to be remembered by YOUR transgressions being uncovered, in order that YOUR sins may be seen according to all YOUR dealings, by reason of YOUR being called to remembrance YOU people will be seized even by the hand.’

“And as for you, O deadly wounded, wicked chieftain of Israel, whose day has come in the time of the error of [the] end, this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘Remove the turban, and lift off the crown. This will not be the same. Put on high even what is low, and bring low even the high one. A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I shall make it. As for this also, it will certainly become no [one’s] until he comes who has the legal right, and I must give [it] to him.’

“And you, O son of man, prophesy, and you must say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said concerning the sons of Am’mon and concerning the reproach from them.’ And you must say, ‘A sword, a sword drawn for a slaughter, polished to cause [it] to devour, in order to glitter, because of [their] beholding for you an unreality, because of [their] divining for you a lie, in order to put you on the necks of the slain ones, the wicked men whose day has come in the time of the error of [the] end. Return [it] to its sheath. In the place that you were created, in the land of your origin, I shall judge you. And I will pour out upon you my denunciation. With the fire of my fury I shall blow upon you, and I will give you into the hand of men who are unreasoning, the craftsmen of ruination. For the fire you will become fuel. Your own blood will prove to be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I myself, Jehovah, have spoken.’”

-Ezekiel 21, NWT

A Slaughter: Concerning The Sons of Ammon and Concerning The Reproach From Them

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

Gather yourselves together, yes, do the gathering, O nation not paling in shame. Before [the] statute gives birth to [anything], [before the] day has passed by just like chaff, before there comes upon YOU people the burning anger of Jehovah, before there comes upon YOU the day of Jehovah’s anger, seek Jehovah, all YOU meek ones of the earth, who have practiced His own judicial decision. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably YOU may be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger. For, as regards Gaʹza, an abandoned [city] is what she will become; and Ashʹke·lon is to be a desolate waste. As regards Ashʹdod, at high noon they will drive her out; and as regards Ekʹron, she will be uprooted.

Zephaniah 2:1-4, NWT

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

No one can oppose you when you are angry: Valuable things will be of no benefit on the day of fury, but righteousness itself will deliver from death...

“Now the sons of E’li were good-for-nothing men; they did not acknowledge Jehovah. As for the due right of the priests from the people, whenever any man was offering a sacrifice, an attendant of the priest came with the three-pronged fork in his hand, just when the meat was boiling, and made a thrust into the basin or the two-handled cooking pot or the caldron or the one-handled cooking pot. Anything that the fork might bring up the priest would take for himself. That is the way they would do in Shi’loh to all the Israelites coming there. Also, before ever they could make the fat smoke, an attendant of the priest came and said to the man sacrificing: “Do give meat to roast for the priest so that he may receive from you, not boiled meat, but raw.” When the man would say to him: “Let them be sure to make the fat smoke first of all. Then take for yourself just whatever your soul may crave,” he actually said: “No, but you should give it now; and, if not, I shall have to take it by force!” And the sin of the attendants came to be very great before Jehovah; for the men treated the offering of Jehovah with disrespect.

And Samuel was ministering before Jehovah, as a boy, having a linen eph’od girded on. Also, a little sleeveless coat his mother would make for him, and she brought it up to him from year to year when she came up with her husband to sacrifice the yearly sacrifice. And E’li blessed El·ka’nah and his wife and said: “May Jehovah appoint to you an offspring from this wife in place of the thing lent, that was lent to Jehovah.” And they went to their place. Accordingly Jehovah turned his attention to Han’nah, so that she had pregnancy and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel continued growing up with Jehovah.

And E’li was very old, and he had heard of all that his sons kept doing to all Israel and how they would lie down with the women that were serving at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And he used to say to them: “Why do YOU keep doing things like these? For the things I am hearing about YOU from all the people are bad. No, my sons, because the report is not good that I am hearing, that the people of Jehovah are causing to circulate. If a man should sin against a man, God will arbitrate for him; but if it is against Jehovah that a man should sin, who is there to pray for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, because Jehovah was now pleased to put them to death. All the while the boy Samuel was growing bigger and more likable both from Jehovah’s standpoint and from that of men.

And a man of God proceeded to come to E’li and say to him: “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘Did I not for a fact reveal myself to the house of your forefather while they happened to be in Egypt as slaves to the house of Phar’aoh? And there was a choosing of him out of all the tribes of Israel for me, to act as priest and go up upon my altar to make sacrificial smoke billow up, to bear an eph’od before me, that I might give to the house of your forefather all the offerings made by fire of the sons of Israel. Why do YOU men keep kicking at my sacrifice and at my offering that I have commanded [in my] dwelling, and you keep honoring your sons more than me by fattening yourselves from the best of every offering of Israel my people?

“‘That is why the utterance of Jehovah the God of Israel is: “I did indeed say, As for your house and the house of your forefather, they will walk before me to time indefinite.” But now the utterance of Jehovah is: “It is unthinkable, on my part, because those honoring me I shall honor, and those despising me will be of little account.” Look! Days are coming when I shall certainly chop off your arm and the arm of the house of your forefather, so that there will not come to be an old man in your house. And you will actually look upon an adversary [in my] dwelling amid all the good that is done to Israel; and never will there come to be an old man in your house. And yet there is a man of yours that I shall not cut off from being at my altar so as to cause your eyes to fail and to make your soul pine away; but the greater number of your house will all die by the sword of men. And this is the sign for you that will come to your two sons, Hoph’ni and Phin’e·has: On one day both of them will die. And I shall certainly raise up for myself a faithful priest. In harmony with what is in my heart and in my soul he will do; and I shall certainly build for him a lasting house, and he will certainly walk before my anointed one always. And it must occur that anyone left over in your house will come and bow down to him for the payment of money and a round loaf of bread, and will certainly say: “Attach me, please, to one of the priestly offices to eat a piece of bread.”’”

All the while the boy Samuel was ministering to Jehovah before E’li, and word from Jehovah had become rare in those days; there was no vision being spread abroad.

Now it came about on that day that E’li was lying in his place, and his eyes had begun to grow dim; he was not able to see. And the lamp of God was not yet extinguished, and Samuel was lying in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was. And Jehovah proceeded to call Samuel. At this he said: “Here I am.” And he went running to E’li and saying: “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said: “I did not call. Lie down again.” So he went and lay down. And Jehovah went on to call yet again: “Samuel!” At this Samuel got up and went to E’li and said: “Here I am, for you did call me.” But he said: “I did not call, my son. Lie down again.” (As regards Samuel, he had not yet come to know Jehovah, and the word of Jehovah had not yet begun to be revealed to him.) So Jehovah called again for the third time: “Samuel!” At that he got up and went to E’li and said: “Here I am, for you must have called me.”

And E’li began to discern that it was Jehovah that was calling the boy. Consequently E’li said to Samuel: “Go, lie down, and it must occur that, if he should call you, you must say, ‘Speak, Jehovah, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Then Jehovah came and took his position and called as at the other times: “Samuel, Samuel!” At this Samuel said: “Speak, for your servant is listening.” And Jehovah went on to say to Samuel: “Look! I am doing something in Israel which if anyone hears about, both his ears will tingle. On that day I shall carry out toward E’li all that I have said respecting his house, from beginning to end. And you must tell him that I am judging his house to time indefinite for the error that he has known, because his sons are calling down evil upon God, and he has not rebuked them. And that is why I have sworn to the house of E’li that the error of the house of E’li will not be brought to exemption from punishment by sacrifice or by offering to time indefinite.”

And Samuel continued lying down until the morning. Then he opened the doors of Jehovah’s house. And Samuel was afraid to tell E’li of the appearing. But E’li called Samuel and said: “Samuel, my son!” At this he said: “Here I am.” And he went on to say: “What is the word that he has spoken to you? Do not, please, hide it from me. May God do so to you and so may he add to it if you should hide from me a word of all the word that he has spoken to you.” So Samuel told him all the words, and he did not hide anything from him. At that he said: “It is Jehovah. What is good in his eyes let him do.”

And Samuel continued growing up, and Jehovah himself proved to be with him and did not cause any of all his words to fall to the earth. And all Israel from Dan to Be’er-she’ba became aware that Samuel was one accredited for the position of prophet to Jehovah. And Jehovah proceeded to appear again in Shi’loh, because Jehovah revealed himself to Samuel in Shi’loh by the word of Jehovah.

And the word of Samuel continued to come to all Israel. Then Israel went out to meet the Phi·lis’tines in battle; and they took up camping alongside Eb·en·e’zer, and the Phi·lis’tines themselves encamped in Aʹphek. And the Phi·lis’tines proceeded to draw up in formation to meet Israel, and the battle went badly, so that Israel was defeated before the Phi·lis’tines, who went striking down about four thousand men in closed battle line in the field. When the people came to the camp the older men of Israel began to say: “Why did Jehovah defeat us today before the Phi·lis’tines? Let us take to ourselves from Shi’loh the ark of Jehovah’s covenant, that it may come into our midst and may save us from the palm of our enemies.” So the people sent to Shi’loh and carried from there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of armies, who is sitting upon the cherubs. And the two sons of E’li were there with the ark of the covenant of the [true] God, namely, Hoph’ni and Phin’e·has.

And it came about that as soon as the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came into the camp, all the Israelites broke out into loud shouting, so that the earth was in a stir. The Phi·lis’tines also got to hear the sound of the shouting and began saying: “What does the sound of this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Finally they got to know that the ark of Jehovah itself had come into the camp. And the Phi·lis’tines became afraid, because, they said: “God has come into the camp!” So they said: “Woe to us, for such a thing as this never occurred before! Woe to us! Who will save us from the hand of this majestic God? This is the God that was the smiter of Egypt with every sort of slaughter in the wilderness. Show yourselves courageous and prove yourselves men, YOU Phi·lis’tines, that YOU may not serve the Hebrews just as they have served YOU; and YOU must prove yourselves men and fight!” Accordingly the Phi·lis’tines fought and Israel was defeated, and they went fleeing each one to his tent; and the slaughter came to be very great, so that out of Israel there fell thirty thousand men on foot. And the ark of God itself was captured, and the two sons of E’li, Hoph’ni and Phin’e·has, died.

And a man of Benjamin went running from the battle line so that he arrived at Shi’loh on that day with his garments ripped apart and dirt on his head. When he arrived, there was E’li sitting on the seat by the roadside, watching, because his heart had become atremble over the ark of the [true] God. And the man himself went in to report in the city, and the whole city began crying out. And E’li got to hear the sound of the outcry. So he said: “What does the sound of this turmoil mean?” And the man himself hurried that he might go in and report to E’li. (Now E’li was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes had set so that he was unable to see.) And the man proceeded to say to E’li: “I am the one coming from the battle line, and I—it is from the battle line that I have fled today.” At this he said: “What is the thing that has happened, my son?” So the news bearer answered and said: “Israel has fled before the Phi·lis’tines, and there has also occurred a great defeat among the people; and also your own two sons have died—Hoph’ni and Phin’e·has—and the very ark of the [true] God has been captured.”

And it came about that at the moment that he mentioned the ark of the [true] God, he began to fall from the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck got broken so that he died, because the man was old and heavy; and he himself had judged Israel forty years. And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phin’e·has, was pregnant near to giving birth, and she got to hear the report that the ark of the [true] God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband had died. At that she bowed herself and began giving birth, because her pangs came unexpectedly upon her. And about the time of her death, the women standing by her began to speak: “Do not be afraid, because it is a son that you have borne.” And she did not answer and did not set her heart on it. But she called the boy Ich’a·bod, saying: “Glory has gone away from Israel into exile,” [this] with reference to the ark of the [true] God’s being captured and with reference to her father-in-law and her husband. So she said: “Glory has gone away from Israel into exile, because the ark of the [true] God has been captured.”

“As for the Phi·lis′tines, they took the ark of the [true] God and then brought it from Eb·en·e′zer to Ash′dod. And the Phi·lis′tines proceeded to take the ark of the [true] God and bring it into the house of Da′gon and station it beside Da′gon. Then the Ash′dod·ites got up early the very next day, and there Da′gon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah. So they took Da′gon and returned him to his place. When they got up early in the morning the very day after, there Da′gon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah, with the head of Da′gon and the palms of both his hands cut off, to the threshold. Only the fish part had been left upon him. That is why the priests of Da′gon and all those going into the house of Da′gon do not tread upon the threshold of Da′gon in Ash′dod down to this day.

And the hand of Jehovah came to be heavy upon the Ash′dod·ites, and he began causing panic and striking them with piles, namely, Ash′dod and its territories. And the men of Ash′dod came to see that it was so, and they said: “Do not let the ark of the God of Israel dwell with us, because his hand has been hard against us and against Da′gon our god.” Consequently they sent and gathered all the axis lords of the Phi·lis′tines to them and said: “What shall we do to the ark of the God of Israel?” Finally they said: “Toward Gath let the ark of the God of Israel go around. So they brought the ark of the God of Israel around to there.

And it came about that after they had brought it around to there, the hand of Jehovah came to be upon the city with a very great confusion, and he began striking the men of the city, from small to great, and piles began breaking out on them. Hence they sent the ark of the [true] God to Ek′ron. And it came about that as soon as the ark of the [true] God came to Ek′ron, the Ek′ron·ites began to cry out, saying: “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to me to put me and my people to death!” Consequently they sent and gathered all the axis lords of the Phi·lis′tines and said: “SEND the ark of the God of Israel away that it may return to its place and may not put me and my people to death.” For a death-dealing confusion had occurred in the whole city; the hand of the [true] God had been very heavy there, and the men that did not die had been struck with piles. And the cry of the city for help kept ascending to the heavens.

And the ark of Jehovah proved to be in the field of the Phi·lis′tines seven months. And the Phi·lis′tines proceeded to call the priests and the diviners, saying: “What shall we do with the ark of Jehovah? Let us know with what we should send it away to its place.” To this they said: “If YOU are sending the ark of the God of Israel away, do not send it away without an offering, for YOU should by all means return to him a guilt offering. Then it is that YOU will be healed, and it must become known to YOU why his hand would not turn away from YOU.” At this they said: “What is the guilt offering that we ought to return to him?” Then they said: “According to the number of the axis lords of the Phi·lis′tines, five golden piles and five golden jerboas, for every one of YOU and YOUR axis lords have the same scourge. And YOU must make images of YOUR piles and images of YOUR jerboas that are bringing the land to ruin, and YOU must give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off YOU and YOUR god and YOUR land. Also, why should YOU make YOUR heart unresponsive just the way Egypt and Phar′aoh made their heart unresponsive? Was it not as soon as He dealt severely with them that they proceeded to send them away, and they went their way? And now take and make a new wagon, and two cows that are giving suck, upon which no yoke has come up, and YOU must hitch the cows to the wagon, and YOU must make their young ones go back home from following them. And YOU must take the ark of Jehovah and place it on the wagon, and the golden articles that YOU must return to him as a guilt offering YOU should put into a box at the side of it. And YOU must send it away, and it must go. And YOU must look: if it is the road to its territory that it goes up, to Beth-she′mesh, it is he that has done to us this great evil; but if not, we must know that it was not his hand that touched us; an accident it was that happened to us.”

And the men proceeded to do accordingly. So they took two cows that were giving suck and hitched them to the wagon, and their young ones they shut up at home. Then they put the ark of Jehovah upon the wagon, and also the box and the golden jerboas and the images of their piles. And the cows began to go straight ahead on the road to Beth-she′mesh. On the one highway they went, lowing as they went, and they did not turn aside to the right or to the left. All the while the axis lords of the Phi·lis′tines were walking after them as far as the boundary of Beth-she′mesh. And people of Beth-she′mesh were reaping the wheat harvest in the low plain. When they raised their eyes and saw the Ark, they gave way to rejoicing at seeing it. And the wagon itself came into the field of Joshua the Beth-she′mite and kept standing there, where there was a large stone. And they went splitting up the wood of the wagon, and the cows they offered up as a burnt offering to Jehovah.

And the Levites themselves took the ark of Jehovah down and the box that was with it, in which the golden articles were, and they proceeded to put it upon the large stone. And the men of Beth-she′mesh, for their part, offered up burnt offerings, and they continued rendering up sacrifices on that day to Jehovah.

And the five axis lords of the Phi·lis′tines themselves saw it and went their way back to Ek′ron on that day. Now these are the golden piles that the Phi·lis′tines returned as a guilt offering to Jehovah: for Ash′dod one, for Ga′za one, for Ash′ke·lon one, for Gath one, for Ek′ron one. And the golden jerboas were to the number of all the cities of the Phi·lis′tines belonging to the five axis lords, from the fortified city to the village of the open country.

And the great stone upon which they rested the ark of Jehovah is a witness down to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-she′mite. And he went striking down the men of Beth-she′mesh, because they had looked upon the ark of Jehovah. So he struck down among the people seventy men—fifty thousand men—and the people began mourning because Jehovah had struck down the people with a great slaughter. Further, the men of Beth-she′mesh said: “Who will be able to stand before Jehovah this holy God, and to whom will he withdraw from off us?” Finally they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kir′i·ath-je′a·rim, saying: “The Phi·lis′tines have returned the ark of Jehovah. Come down. Take it up to yourselves.”

-1 Samuel 2:12 - 6:1-21, NWT

Perhaps He Will Lighten His Hand From Off You And Your God And Your Land

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

Woe to those inhabiting the region of the sea, the nation of Cherʹe·thites! The word of Jehovah is against YOU people. O Caʹnaan, the land of the Phi·lisʹtines, I will also destroy you, so that there will be no inhabitant. And the region of the sea must become pasture grounds, [with] wells for shepherds and stone pens for sheep. And it must become a region for the remaining ones of the house of Judah. Upon them they will feed. In the houses of Ashʹke·lon, in the evening, they will lie stretched out. For Jehovah their God will turn his attention to them and certainly gather back the captive ones of them.” “I have heard the reproach by Moʹab and the abusive words of the sons of Amʹmon, with which they have reproached my people and kept putting on great airs against their territory. Therefore, as I am alive,” is the utterance of Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, “Moʹab herself will become just like Sodʹom, and the sons of Amʹmon like Go·morʹrah, a place possessed by nettles, and a salt pit, and a desolate waste, even to time indefinite. The remaining ones of my people will plunder them, and the remnant of my own nation will take possession of them. This is what they will have instead of their pride, because they reproached and kept putting on great airs against the people of Jehovah of armies. Jehovah will be fear-inspiring against them; for he will certainly emaciate all the gods of the earth, and people will bow down to him, each one from his place, all the islands of the nations.

Zephaniah 2:5-11, NWT

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

Plunder silver, you men; plunder gold: For all the gods of the peoples are idols; But Jehovah made the heavens…

“This is what proved to be the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Phi·lis’tines before Phar’aoh proceeded to strike down Ga’za. This is what Jehovah has said:

“Look! Waters are coming up from the north and have become a flooding torrent. And they will flood the land and what fills it, the city and those inhabiting it. And the men will certainly cry out, and everyone dwelling in the land must howl. At the sound of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions, at the rattling of his war chariots, the turmoil of his wheels, the fathers will actually not turn around to the sons, because of the dropping down of [their] hands, on account of the day that is coming to despoil all the Phi·lis’tines, to cut off from Tyre and from Si’don every survivor that was helping. For Jehovah is despoiling the Phi·lis’tines, who are the remaining ones from the island of Caph’tor. Baldness must come to Ga’za. Ash’ke·lon has been put to silence. O remnant of their low plain, how long will you keep making cuts upon yourself?

“Aha, the sword of Jehovah! How long will you not stay quiet? Be shoved into your sheath. Take your repose and keep silent.

“How can it stay quiet, when Jehovah himself has given a command to it? It is for Ash’ke·lon and for the coast of the sea. There is where he has designated it to be.”

For Mo’ab this is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said: “Woe to Ne’bo, for she has been despoiled! Kir·i·a·tha’im has been put to shame, has been captured. The secure height has been put to shame and been put in terror. No more is there any praise of Mo’ab. In Hesh’bon they have thought out against her a calamity: ‘Come, men, and let us cut her off from being a nation.’

“You, too, O Mad’men, should keep silent. After you there walks a sword. There is the sound of an outcry from Hor·o·na’im, a despoiling and great breaking down. Moʹab has been broken down. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. For on the way up to Lu’hith it is with weeping that one goes up—there is a weeping. For on the way down from Hor·o·na’im there is a distressing outcry over the breakdown that people have heard.

“Take to flight; provide escape for YOUR souls, and YOU should become like a juniper tree in the wilderness. Because your trust is in your works and in your treasures, you yourself will also be captured. And Che’mosh will certainly go forth into exile, his priests and his princes at the same time. And the despoiler will come in on every city, and there will be no city that can make its escape. And the low plain will certainly perish and the level land be annihilated, a thing that Jehovah has said.

“Give a road mark to Mo’ab, YOU people, for at the falling in ruins she will go forth; and her very cities will become a mere object of astonishment, with no one dwelling in them.

“Cursed be the one that is carrying out the mission of Jehovah neglectfully; and cursed be the one that is holding back his sword from blood!

“The Mo’ab·ites have been at ease since their youth, and they are keeping undisturbed on their dregs. And they have not been emptied from one vessel into another vessel, and into exile they have not gone. That is why their taste has stood still within them, and their very scent has not been changed.

“‘Therefore, look! there are days coming,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and I will send to them [vessel] tilters, and they will certainly tilt them; and their vessels they will empty out, and their large jars they will dash to pieces. And the Mo’ab·ites will have to be ashamed of Che’mosh, just as those of the house of Israel have become ashamed of Beth’el their confidence. How dare YOU people say: “We are mighty men and men of vital energy for the war”?’

“‘Mo’ab has been despoiled, and one has gone up against her own cities. And their choicest young men themselves have gone down to the slaughtering,’ is the utterance of the King, whose name is Jehovah of armies.

“The disaster on the Mo’ab·ites is near to come, and their very calamity is actually hurrying up very much. All those round about them will have to sympathize with them, even all those knowing their name. Say, YOU people, ‘O how the rod of strength has been broken, the staff of beauty!’

“Get down from glory, and sit down in thirst, O inhabitress of the daughter of Di’bon; for the despoiler of Mo’ab has come up against you. He will actually bring your fortified places to ruin.

“Stand still and look out for the way itself, O inhabitress of A·ro’er. Ask him that is fleeing and her that is making her escape. Say, ‘What has been brought about?’ Moʹab has been put to shame, for she has been struck with terror. Howl and cry out. Tell in Ar’non, O men, that Mo’ab has been despoiled. And judgment itself has come to the land of level country, to Ho’lon and to Ja’haz and against Meph’a·ath, and against Di’bon and against Ne’bo and against Beth-dib·la·tha’im, and against Kir·i·a·tha’im and against Beth-ga’mul and against Beth-me’on and against Ke’ri·oth and against Boz’rah and against all the cities of the land of Moʹab, those far away and those near.

“‘The horn of Mo’ab has been cut down, and his own arm has been broken,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘Make him drunk, O men, for he has put on great airs against Jehovah himself; and Mo’ab has slapped around in his vomit, and he has become an object of ridicule, even he himself.

“‘And did not Israel become a mere object of ridicule to you? Or was he found among outright thieves? For you would shake yourself just as often as you spoke against him.

“‘Leave the cities and reside on the crag, YOU inhabitants of Mo’ab, and become like the dove that makes its nest in the regions of the mouth of the hollow.’”

“We have heard of the pride of Mo’ab —he is very haughty—of his highness and of his pride and of his haughtiness and of the loftiness of his heart.”

“‘I myself have known his fury,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and that is not the way it will be; his empty talk —they will not actually do in just that way. That is why it is over Mo’ab that I shall howl, and for Mo’ab in his entirety I shall cry out. For the men of Kir-he’res one shall moan.

“‘With more than the weeping for Ja’zer I shall weep for you, O vine of Sib’mah. Your own flourishing shoots have crossed over the sea. To the sea—[to] Ja’zer —they have reached. Upon your summer fruitage and upon your grape gathering the despoiler himself has fallen. And rejoicing and joyfulness have been taken away from the orchard and from the land of Mo’ab. And from the winepresses I have caused the wine itself to cease. No one will be doing the treading with shouting. The shouting will be no shouting.’”

“‘From the cry in Hesh’bon clear to E·le·a’leh, clear to Ja’haz they have given forth their voice, from Zo’ar clear to Hor·o·na’im, to Eg’lath-she·li’shi·yah; for even the waters of Nimʹrim themselves will become mere desolations. And I will cause to cease from Mo’ab,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘the one bringing up an offering upon the high place and the one making sacrificial smoke to his god. That is why my own heart will be boisterous for Mo’ab himself, just like flutes; and for the men of Kir-he’res my very heart will be boisterous, just like flutes. That is why the very abundance that he has produced will certainly perish. For upon every head there is baldness, and every beard is clipped. Upon all hands there are cuts, and upon the hips there is sackcloth!’”

“‘On all the roofs of Mo’ab and in her public squares—all of it—there is wailing; for I have broken Mo’ab just like a vessel in which there is no delight,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘O how she has become terrified! Howl, YOU people! O how Mo’ab has turned the back! He has become ashamed. And Mo’ab has become an object of ridicule and something terrifying to all those round about him.’”

“For this is what Jehovah has said, ‘Look! Just like an eagle that pounces, someone must also spread his wings over Mo’ab. The towns will actually be captured, and her own strong places will certainly be seized. And the heart of the mighty men of Mo’ab must become in that day like the heart of a wife having childbirth distress.’”

“‘And Mo’ab will certainly be annihilated from being a people, for it is against Jehovah that he has put on great airs. Dread and the hollow and the trap are upon you, O inhabitant of Mo’ab,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘Anyone fleeing because of the dread will fall into the hollow; and anyone coming up out of the hollow will be caught in the trap.’

“‘For I shall bring upon her, upon Mo’ab, the year of their being given attention,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘In the shadow of Hesh’bon those fleeing have stood still without power. For a very fire will certainly go forth out of Hesh’bon, and a flame from the midst of Si’hon; and it will devour the temples of Mo’ab and the crown of the head of the sons of uproar.’

“‘Woe to you, O Mo’ab! The people of Che’mosh have perished. For your sons have been taken as captives and your daughters as captives. And I will gather the captive ones of Mo’ab in the final part of the days,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘Down to this point is the judgment upon Mo’ab.’”

For the sons of Am’mon this is what Jehovah has said: “Are there no sons that Israel has, or is there no inheritor that he has? Why is it that Mal’cam has taken possession of Gad, and his own people have taken up dwelling in [Israel’s] very cities?” 

“‘Therefore, look! there are days coming,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and I will cause the alarm signal of war to be heard even against Rab’bah of the sons of Am’mon; and she will certainly become a mound of a desolate waste, and her dependent towns themselves will be set aflame in the very fire.’

“‘And Israel will actually take possession of those in possession of him,’ Jehovah has said.

“‘Howl, O Hesh’bon, for A’i has been despoiled! Cry out, O dependent towns of Rab’bah. Gird sackcloth on yourselves. Wail, and rove about among the stone pens, for Mal’cam himself will go even into exile, his priests and his princes, all together. Why do you brag about the low plains, your flowing low plain, O daughter unfaithful, you the one trusting in her treasures, [saying:] “Who will come to me?”’”

“‘Here I am bringing in upon you a dreadful thing,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, ‘from all those round about you. And YOU people will certainly be dispersed, each one in his own direction, and there will be no one collecting together those running away.’”

“‘But afterward I shall gather the captive ones of the sons of Am’mon,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.”

For E’dom this is what Jehovah of armies has said: “Is there no longer any wisdom in Te’man? Has counsel perished from those having understanding? Has their wisdom gone to putrefying? Flee! Let yourselves give way! Go down deep in order to dwell, O inhabitants of De’dan! For the disaster of E’sau I will bring in upon him, the time that I must turn my attention to him. If grape gatherers themselves actually came in to you, would they not let some gleanings remain? If thieves [came in] by night, they would certainly cause only as much ruin as they wanted. But as for me, I will strip E’sau bare. I will uncover his places of concealment, and one will not be able to hide oneself. His offspring and his brothers and his neighbors will certainly be despoiled, and he will not be. Do leave your fatherless boys. I myself shall preserve [them] alive, and your own widows will trust even in me.”

For this is what Jehovah has said: “Look! Although it is not their custom to drink the cup, they will drink without fail. And you yourself, will you be absolutely left unpunished? You will not be left unpunished, for you will drink without fail.”

“For by my own self I have sworn,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “that nothing but an object of astonishment, a reproach, a devastation and a malediction will Boz’rah become; and all her own cities will become devastated places to time indefinite.” There is a report that I have heard from Jehovah, and there is an envoy that is sent among the nations, [saying:] “Collect yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to battle.”

“For, look! I have made you small indeed among the nations, despised among mankind. The shuddering you caused has deceived you, the presumptuousness of your heart, O you who are residing in the retreats of the crag, holding the height of the hill. Although you build your nest high up just like an eagle, down from there I shall bring you,” is the utterance of Jehovah. “And E’dom must become an object of astonishment. Everyone passing along by her will stare in astonishment and whistle on account of all her plagues. Just as in the overthrow of Sod’om and Go·mor’rah and her neighbor [towns],” Jehovah has said, “no man will dwell there, and no son of mankind will reside in her as an alien.

“Look! Someone will come up just like a lion from the proud [thickets] along the Jordan to the durable abiding place, but in a moment I will make him run away from her. And the one who is chosen I shall appoint over her. For who is like me, and who will challenge me, and who, now, is the shepherd that can stand before me? Therefore hear, O men, the counsel of Jehovah that he has formulated against E’dom, and his thoughts that he has thought out against the inhabitants of Te’man: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged about. Surely on account of them he will make their dwelling place become desolate. At the sound of their falling the earth has begun to rock. There is an outcry! The sound of it has been heard even at the Red Sea. Look! Just like an eagle someone will ascend and pounce down, and he will spread out his wings over Boz’rah; and the heart of the mighty men of E’dom will actually become in that day like the heart of the wife having distress in childbirth.”

For Damascus: “Ha’math and Ar’pad have become ashamed, for it is a bad report that they have heard. They have disintegrated. In the sea there is anxious care; it is not able to keep undisturbed. Damascus has lost courage. She has turned to flee, and sheer panic has seized her. Distress and birth pangs themselves have taken hold of her, as with a woman that is giving birth. How is it that the city of praise has not been abandoned, the town of exultation?

“Therefore her young men will fall in her public squares, and all the men of war themselves will be brought to silence in that day,” is the utterance of Jehovah of armies. “And I will set a fire ablaze on the wall of Damascus, and it will certainly devour the dwelling towers of Ben-ha’dad.”

For Ke’dar and the kingdoms of Ha’zor, which Neb·u·chad·rez’zar the king of Babylon struck down, this is what Jehovah has said: “Rise up, go up to Ke’dar, O men, and despoil the sons of the East. Their own tents and their own flocks will be taken, their tent cloths and all their articles. And their own camels will be carried off from them. And they will certainly cry out to them, ‘Fright is all around!’”

“Flee, take flight far away; go down deep in order to dwell, O inhabitants of Ha’zor,” is the utterance of Jehovah. “For Neb·u·chad·rez’zar the king of Babylon has formulated a counsel even against YOU and has thought out against YOU a thought.”

“Rise up, O men, go up against the nation that is at ease, dwelling in security!” is the utterance of Jehovah.“No doors and no bar does it have. Solitary they reside. And their camels must become a plunder, and the multitude of their livestock a spoil. And I will scatter them to every wind, those who have their hair clipped at the temples; and from all regions near it I shall bring in their disaster,” is the utterance of Jehovah. “And Ha’zor must become the lair of jackals, a desolate waste to time indefinite. No man will dwell there, and in her no son of mankind will reside as an alien.”

This is what occurred as the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah the prophet concerning E’lam in the beginning of the kingship of Zed·e·ki’ah the king of Judah, saying: “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Here I am breaking the bow of E’lam, the beginning of their mightiness. And I will bring in upon E’lam the four winds from the four extremities of the heavens. And I will scatter them to all these winds, and there will prove to be no nation to which the dispersed ones of E’lam will not come.’”

“And I will shatter the E’lam·ites before their enemies and before those seeking for their soul; and I will bring upon them a calamity, my burning anger,” is the utterance of Jehovah. “And I will send after them the sword until I shall have exterminated them.”

“And I will set my throne in E’lam, and I will destroy out of there the king and the princes,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

“And it will certainly occur in the final part of the days that I shall gather the captive ones of E’lam,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

-Jeremiah 47-49, NWT

Moʹab Has Been Put To Shame, For She Has Been Struck With Terror

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

YOU also, YOU E·thi·oʹpi·ans, YOU yourselves will be people slain by my sword. “And he will stretch out his hand toward the north, and he will destroy As·syrʹi·a. And he will make Ninʹe·veh a desolate waste, a waterless region like the wilderness. And in the midst of her, droves will certainly lie stretched out, all the wild animals of a nation. Both pelican and porcupine will spend the night right among her pillar capitals. A voice will keep singing in the window. There will be devastation at the threshold; for he will certainly lay bare the very wainscoting. This is the exultant city that was sitting in security, that was saying in her heart, ‘I am, and there is nobody else.’ O how she has become an object of astonishment, a place for the wild animals to lie stretched out! Everyone passing along by her will whistle; he will wag his hand.

Zephaniah 2:12-15, NWT

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

Your throne will be established forever: Jehovah has a sword; it must be filled with blood; it must be made greasy with the fat, with the blood of young rams and he-goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams...

“Send a ram, YOU men, to the ruler of the land, from Se’la toward the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

And it must occur [that] like a fleeing winged creature, chased away from [its] nest, the daughters of Mo’ab will become at the fords of Ar’non.

“Bring in counsel, YOU men, execute the decision. “Make your shadow just like the night in the midst of noontime. Conceal the dispersed ones; do not betray anyone fleeing. May my dispersed ones reside as aliens even in you, O Mo’ab. Become a place of concealment to them because of the despoiler. For the oppressor has reached his end; the despoiling has terminated; those trampling down [others] have been finished off the earth.

“And in loving-kindness a throne will certainly be firmly established; and one must sit down upon it in trueness in the tent of David, judging and seeking justice and being prompt in righteousness.”

We have heard of the pride of Mo’ab, that he is very proud; his haughtiness and his pride and his fury —his empty talk will not be so. Therefore Mo’ab will howl for Mo’ab; even all of it will howl. For the raisin cakes of Kir-har’e·seth the stricken ones indeed will moan, because the terraces themselves of Hesh’bon have withered. The vine of Sib’mah —the owners of the nations themselves have smitten down its bright-red [branches]. As far as Ja’zer they had reached; they had wandered about in the wilderness. Its own shoots had been left to luxuriate for themselves; they had gone over to the sea.

That is why I shall weep with the weeping of Ja’zer over the vine of Sib’mah. With my tears I shall drench you, O Hesh’bon and E·le·a’leh, because shouting even over your summer and over your harvest has fallen down. And rejoicing and joyfulness have been taken away from the orchard; and in the vineyards there is no joyful crying out, there is no shouting done. No wine in the presses does the treader tread out. Shouting I have caused to cease.

That is why my very inwards are boisterous just like a harp even over Mo’ab, and the midst of me over Kir-har’e·seth.

And it occurred that it was seen that Mo’ab was made weary upon the high place; and he came to his sanctuary to pray, and he could not accomplish anything.

This is the word that Jehovah spoke concerning Mo’ab formerly. And now Jehovah has spoken, saying: “Within three years, according to the years of a hired laborer, the glory of Mo’ab must also be disgraced with much commotion of every sort, and those who remain over will be a trifling few, not mighty.”

The pronouncement against Damascus: “Look! Damascus removed from being a city, and she has become a heap, a decaying ruin. The cities of A·ro’er that have been left behind become mere places for droves, where they actually lie down, with no one to make [them] tremble. And the fortified city has been made to cease out of E’phra·im, and the kingdom out of Damascus; and those of Syria remaining over will become just like the glory of the sons of Israel,” is the utterance of Jehovah of armies.

“And it must occur in that day that the glory of Jacob will become lowly, and even the fatness of his flesh will be made lean. And it must occur that when the harvester is gathering the standing grain and his own arm harvests the ears of grain, he must even become like one gleaning ears of grain in the low plain of Reph’a·im. And there must remain in it a gleaning as when there is a beating off of the olive tree: two [or] three ripe olives in the top of the branch; four [or] five on the fruit-bearing boughs thereof,” is the utterance of Jehovah the God of Israel.

In that day earthling man will look up to his Maker, and his own eyes will gaze at the Holy One of Israel himself. And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands; and at what his fingers have made he will not gaze, either at the sacred poles or at the incense stands. In that day his fortress cities will become like a place left entirely in the woodland, even the branch that they have left entirely on account of the sons of Israel; and it must become a desolate waste. For you have forgotten the God of your salvation; and the Rock of your fortress you have not remembered. That is why you plant pleasant plantations, and with the shoot of a stranger you set it. In the day you may carefully fence about the plantation of yours, and in the morning you may cause the seed of yours to sprout, [but] the harvest will certainly flee in the day of the disease and incurable pain.

Ha for the commotion of many peoples, who are boisterous as with the boisterousness of the seas! And for the noise of national groups, who make a din just like the noise of mighty waters! The national groups themselves will make a din just like the noise of many waters. And He will certainly rebuke it, and it must flee far away and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before a wind and like a thistle whirl before a storm wind. At evening time, why, look! there is sudden terror. Before morning—it is no more. This is the share of those pillaging us, and the lot belonging to those plundering us.

Ha for the land of the whirring insects with wings, which is in the region of the rivers of E·thi·o’pi·a! It is the one sending forth envoys by means of the sea, and by means of vessels of papyrus upon the surface of the waters, [saying:] “Go, YOU swift messengers, to a nation drawn out and scoured, to a people fear-inspiring everywhere, a nation of tensile strength and of treading down, whose land the rivers have washed away.”

All YOU inhabitants of the productive land and YOU residents of the earth, YOU will see a sight just as when there is the raising up of a signal upon the mountains, and YOU will hear a sound just as when there is the blowing of a horn. For this is what Jehovah has said to me: “I will keep undisturbed and look upon my established place, like the dazzling heat along with the light, like the cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. For before the harvest, when the blossom comes to perfection and the bloom becomes a ripening grape, one must also cut off the sprigs with pruning shears and must remove the tendrils, must lop [them] off. They will be left all together for the bird of prey of the mountains and for the beast of the earth. And upon it the bird of prey will certainly pass the summer, and upon it even every beast of the earth will pass the harvesttime.

“In that time a gift will be brought to Jehovah of armies, [from] a people drawn out and scoured, even from a people fear-inspiring everywhere, a nation of tensile strength and of treading down, whose land the rivers have washed away, to the place of the name of Jehovah of armies, Mount Zion.”

The pronouncement against Egypt: Look! Jehovah is riding on a swift cloud and coming into Egypt. And the valueless gods of Egypt will certainly quiver because of him, and the very heart of Egypt will melt in the midst of it.

“And I will goad Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will certainly war each one against his brother, and each one against his companion, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt must become bewildered in the midst of it, and I shall confuse its own counsel. And they will be certain to resort to the valueless gods and to the charmers and to the spirit mediums and to the professional foretellers of events. And I will deliver up Egypt into the hand of a hard master, and strong will be the king that will rule over them,” is the utterance of the [true] Lord, Jehovah of armies.

And the water will certainly be dried up from the sea, and the river itself will become parched and actually run dry. And the rivers must stink; the Nile canals of Egypt must become low and parched. The reed and the rush themselves must molder. The bare places by the Nile River, at the mouth of the Nile River, and every seedland of the Nile River will dry up. It will certainly be driven away, and it will be no more. And the fishers will have to mourn, and all those casting fishhooks into the Nile River must express sorrow, and even those spreading fishing nets upon the surface of the water will actually fade away. And the workers in carded flax must become ashamed; also the loom workers on white fabrics. And her weavers must become crushed, all the wage workers grieved in soul.

The princes of Zo’an are indeed foolish. As regards the wise ones of Phar’aoh’s counselors, [their] counsel is something unreasonable. How will YOU men say to Phar’aoh: “I am the son of wise ones, the son of kings of ancient time”? Where, then, are they—the wise men of yours —that they may now tell you and that they may know what Jehovah of armies has counseled concerning Egypt? The princes of Zo’an have acted foolishly, the princes of Noph have been deceived, the keymen of her tribes have caused Egypt to wander about. Jehovah himself has mingled in the midst of her the spirit of disconcertedness; and they have caused Egypt to wander about in all its work, just as someone drunk is made to wander about in his vomit. And Egypt will not come to have any work that the head or the tail, the shoot or the rush, can do.

In that day Egypt will become like women, and it will certainly tremble and be in dread because of the waving of the hand of Jehovah of armies which he is waving against it. And the ground of Judah must become to Egypt a cause for reeling. Everybody to whom one mentions it is in dread because of the counsel of Jehovah of armies that he is counseling against him.

In that day there will prove to be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Ca’naan and swearing to Jehovah of armies. The City of Tearing Down will one [city] be called.

In that day there will prove to be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Jehovah beside its boundary. And it must prove to be for a sign and for a witness to Jehovah of armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry out to Jehovah because of the oppressors, and he will send them a savior, even a grand one, who will actually deliver them. And Jehovah will certainly become known to the Egyptians; and the Egyptians must know Jehovah in that day, and they must render sacrifice and gift and must make a vow to Jehovah and pay it. And Jehovah will certainly deal Egypt a blow. There will be a dealing of a blow and a healing; and they must return to Jehovah, and he must let himself be entreated by them and must heal them.

In that day there will come to be a highway out of Egypt to As·syr’i·a, and As·syr’i·a will actually come into Egypt, and Egypt into As·syr’i·a; and they will certainly render service, Egypt with As·syr’i·a. In that day Israel will come to be the third with Egypt and with As·syr’i·a, namely, a blessing in the midst of the earth, because Jehovah of armies will have blessed it, saying: “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, As·syr’i·a, and my inheritance, Israel.”

-Isaiah 16-19, NWT

The Region Of The Rivers Of Ethiopia: In That Time A Gift Will Be Brought To Jehovah of Armies

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

Bless Jehovah, O my soul. O Jehovah my God, you have proved very great. With dignity and splendor you have clothed yourself, Enwrapping yourself with light as with a garment, Stretching out the heavens like a tent cloth, The One building his upper chambers with beams in the very waters, Making the clouds his chariot, Walking upon the wings of the wind, Making his angels spirits, His ministers a devouring fire. He has founded the earth upon its established places; It will not be made to totter to time indefinite, or forever. With a watery deep just like a garment you covered it. The waters were standing above the very mountains. At your rebuke they began to flee; At the sound of your thunder they were sent running in panic— Mountains proceeded to ascend, Valley plains proceeded to descend— To the place that you have founded for them. A boundary you set, beyond which they should not pass, That they should not again cover the earth. He is sending springs into the torrent valleys; Between the mountains they keep going on. They continually give drink to all the wild beasts of the open field; The zebras regularly quench their thirst. Above them roost the flying creatures of the heavens; From among the thick foliage they keep giving forth sound. He is watering the mountains from his upper chambers. With the fruitage of your works the earth is satisfied. He is making green grass sprout for the beasts, And vegetation for the service of mankind, To cause food to go forth from the earth, And wine that makes the heart of mortal man rejoice, To make the face shine with oil, And bread that sustains the very heart of mortal man. The trees of Jehovah are satisfied, The cedars of Lebʹa·non that he planted, Where the birds themselves make nests. As for the stork, the juniper trees are its house. The high mountains are for the mountain goats; The crags are a refuge for the rock badgers. He has made the moon for appointed times; The sun itself knows well where it sets. You cause darkness, that it may become night; In it all the wild animals of the forest move forth. The maned young lions are roaring for the prey And for seeking their food from God himself. The sun begins to shine —they withdraw And they lie down in their own hiding places. Man goes forth to his activity And to his service until evening. How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions. As for this sea so great and wide, There there are moving things without number, Living creatures, small as well as great. There the ships go; As for Le·viʹa·than, him you have formed to play about in it. All of them—for you they keep waiting To give [them] their food in its season. What you give them they pick up. You open your hand—they get satisfied with good things. If you conceal your face, they get disturbed. If you take away their spirit, they expire, And back to their dust they go. If you send forth your spirit, they are created; And you make the face of the ground new. The glory of Jehovah will prove to be to time indefinite. Jehovah will rejoice in his works. He is looking at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to Jehovah throughout my life; I will make melody to my God as long as I am. Let my musing about him be pleasurable. I, for my part, shall rejoice in Jehovah. The sinners will be finished off from the earth; And as for the wicked, they will be no longer. Bless Jehovah, O my soul. Praise Jah, YOU people!

Psalms 104, NWT

I Will Make Melody To My God As Long As I Am

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

You will by no means believe even if anyone relates it in detail: Behold it, you scorners, and look, and wonder marvelously, and vanish away…

“For, look! the [true] Lord, Jehovah of armies, is removing from Jerusalem and from Judah support and stay, the whole support of bread and the whole support of water, mighty man and warrior, judge and prophet, and practicer of divination and elderly man, chief of fifty and highly respected man and counselor and expert in magical arts, and the skilled charmer. And I shall certainly make boys their princes, and mere arbitrary power will rule over them. And the people will actually tyrannize one over the other, even each one over his fellowman. They will storm, the boy against the old man, and the lightly esteemed one against the one to be honored. For each one will lay hold of his brother in the house of his father, [saying:] “You have a mantle. A dictator you ought to become to us, and this overthrown mass should be under your hand.” He will raise [his voice] in that day, saying: “I shall not become a wound dresser; and in my house there is neither bread nor a mantle. YOU men must not set me as dictator over the people.”

For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah itself has fallen, because their tongue and their dealings are against Jehovah, in behaving rebelliously in the eyes of his glory. The very expression of their faces actually testifies against them, and of their sin like that of Sod’om they do tell. They have not hidden [it]. Woe to their soul! For they have dealt out to themselves calamity.

Say, YOU men, that it [will be] well with the righteous one, for they will eat the very fruitage of their dealings. Woe to the wicked one!—Calamity; for the treatment [rendered] by his own hands will be rendered to him! As for my people, its task assigners are dealing severely, and mere women actually rule over it. O my people, those leading you on are causing [you] to wander, and the way of your paths they have confused.

Jehovah is stationing himself to contend and is standing up to pass sentence upon peoples. Jehovah himself will enter into judgment with the elderly ones of his people and its princes.

“And YOU yourselves have burned down the vineyard. What was taken by robbery from the afflicted one is in YOUR houses. What do YOU men mean in that YOU crush my people, and that YOU grind the very faces of the afflicted ones?” is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies.

And Jehovah says: “For the reason that the daughters of Zion have become haughty and they walk with their throats stretched forth and ogling with their eyes, they go walking with tripping steps, and with their feet they make a tinkling sound, Jehovah also will actually make the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion scabby, and Jehovah himself will lay their very forehead bare. In that day Jehovah will take away the beauty of the bangles and the headbands and the moon-shaped ornaments, the eardrops and the bracelets and the veils, the headdresses and the step chains and the breastbands and the ‘houses of the soul’ and the ornamental humming shells, the finger rings and the nose rings, the robes of state and the overtunics and the cloaks and the purses, and the hand mirrors and the undergarments and the turbans and the large veils.

“And it must occur that instead of balsam oil there will come to be merely a musty smell; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of an artistic hair arrangement, baldness; and instead of a rich garment, a girding of sackcloth; a brand mark instead of prettiness. By the sword your own men will fall, and your mightiness by war. And her entrances will have to mourn and express sorrow, and she will certainly be cleaned out. She will sit down on the very earth.”

And seven women will actually grab hold of one man in that day, saying: “We shall eat our own bread and wear our own mantles; only may we be called by your name to take away our reproach.”

In that day what Jehovah makes sprout will come to be for decoration and for glory, and the fruitage of the land will be something to be proud of and something beautiful for those of Israel who have escaped. And it must occur that the ones remaining in Zion and the ones left over in Jerusalem will be said to be holy to him, everyone written down for life in Jerusalem.

When Jehovah will have washed away the excrement of the daughters of Zion and he will rinse away even the bloodshed of Jerusalem from within her by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning down, Jehovah will also certainly create over every established place of Mount Zion and over her convention place a cloud by day and a smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; because over all the glory there will be a shelter. And there will come to be a booth for a shade by day from the dry heat, and for a refuge and for a hiding place from the rainstorm and from the precipitation.

Let me sing, please, to my beloved one a song of my loved one concerning his vineyard. There was a vineyard that my beloved one came to have on a fruitful hillside. And he proceeded to dig it up and to rid it of stones and to plant it with a choice red vine, and to build a tower in the middle of it. And there was also a winepress that he hewed out in it. And he kept hoping for it to produce grapes, but it gradually produced wild grapes.

“And now, O YOU inhabitants of Jerusalem and YOU men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard. What is there yet to do for my vineyard that I have not already done in it? Why is it that I hoped for it to produce grapes, but it gradually produced wild grapes? And now, please, may I make known to YOU men what I am doing to my vineyard: There will be a removing of its hedge, and it must be destined for burning down. There must be a breaking down of its stone wall, and it must be destined for a place of trampling. And I shall set it as a thing destroyed. It will not be pruned, nor will it be hoed. And it must come up with the thornbush and weeds; and upon the clouds I shall lay a command to keep from precipitating any rain upon it. For the vineyard of Jehovah of armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plantation of which he was fond. And he kept hoping for judgment, but, look! the breaking of law; for righteousness, but, look! an outcry.”

Woe to the ones joining house to house, [and] those who annex field to field until there is no more room and YOU men have been made to dwell all by yourselves in the midst of the land! In my ears Jehovah of armies [has sworn that] many houses, though great and good, will become an outright object of astonishment, without an inhabitant. For even ten acres of vineyard will produce but one bath measure, and even a ho’mer measure of seed will produce but an e’phah measure.

Woe to those who are getting up early in the morning that they may seek just intoxicating liquor, who are lingering till late in the evening darkness so that wine itself inflames them! And there must prove to be harp and stringed instrument, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts; but the activity of Jehovah they do not look at, and the work of his hands they have not seen.

Therefore my people will have to go into exile for lack of knowledge; and their glory will be famished men, and their crowd will be parched with thirst. Therefore She’ol has made its soul spacious and has opened its mouth wide beyond bounds; and what is splendid in her, also her crowd and her uproar and the exultant one, will certainly go down into it. And earthling man will bow down, and man will become low, and even the eyes of the high ones will become low. And Jehovah of armies will become high through judgment, and the [true] God, the Holy One, will certainly sanctify himself through righteousness. And the male lambs will actually graze as in their pasture; and the desolate places of well-fed animals alien residents will eat.

Woe to those drawing error with ropes of untruth, and as with wagon cords sin; those who are saying: “Let his work hasten; do let it come quickly, in order that we may see [it]; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know [it]!”

Woe to those who are saying that good is bad and bad is good, those who are putting darkness for light and light for darkness, those who are putting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those wise in their own eyes and discreet even in front of their own faces!

Woe to those who are mighty in drinking wine, and to the men with vital energy for mixing intoxicating liquor, those who are pronouncing the wicked one righteous in consideration of a bribe, and who take away even the righteousness of the righteous one from him!

Therefore just as a tongue of fire eats up the stubble and into the flames mere dried grass sinks down, their very rootstock will become just like a musty smell, and their blossom itself will go up just like powder, because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of armies, and the saying of the Holy One of Israel they have disrespected. That is why the anger of Jehovah has grown hot against his people, and he will stretch out his hand against them and strike them. And the mountains will be agitated, and their dead bodies will become like the offal in the midst of the streets. In view of all this his anger has not turned back, but his hand is stretched out still.

And he has raised up a signal to a great nation far away, and he has whistled to it at the extremity of the earth; and, look! in haste it will swiftly come in. There is no one tired nor is anyone stumbling among them. No one is drowsy and no one sleeps. And the belt around their loins will certainly not be opened, nor the laces of their sandals be torn in two; because their arrows are sharpened and all their bows are bent. The very hoofs of their horses will have to be accounted as flint itself, and their wheels as a storm wind. The roaring of theirs is like that of a lion, and they roar like maned young lions. And they will growl and grab hold of the prey and bring [it] safely away, and there will be no deliverer. And they will growl over it in that day as with the growling of the sea. And one will actually gaze at the land, and, look! there is distressing darkness; and even the light has grown dark because of the drops falling on it.”

-Isaiah 3-5, NWT

A ‘Waterless’ Region: Jehovah Will Denude Their Crotches

[thetheoreticaljehovist]

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city. He sets salvation itself for walls and rampart. Open the gates, YOU men, that the righteous nation that is keeping faithful conduct may enter. The inclination that is well supported you will safeguard in continuous peace, because it is in you that one is made to trust. Trust in Jehovah, YOU people, for all times, for in Jah Jehovah is the Rock of times indefinite.

Isaiah 26:1-4, NWT