As
Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up -- and there were the Egyptians in
pursuit of them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to Yahweh for
help.
***
13 Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid!
Stand firm, and you will see what Yahweh will do to rescue you today: the
Egyptians you see today you will never see again.14Yahweh will do
the fighting for you; all you need to do is to keep calm.'
Yah is my strength and my song, to him I owe
my deliverance. He is my God and I shall praise him, my father's God and I
shall extol him.
3Yahweh
is a warrior; Yahweh is his name.
4Pharaoh's
chariots and army he has hurled into the sea the pick of his officers have been
drowned in the Sea of Reeds.
5The
ocean has closed over them; they have sunk to the bottom like a stone.
6Your
right hand, Yahweh, wins glory by its strength, your right hand, Yahweh,
shatters your foes,7 and by your great majesty you fell your assailants; you
unleash your fury, it consumes them like chaff.
8A blast
from your nostrils and the waters piled high; the waves stood firm as a dyke;
the bed of the sea became firm ground.
9The
enemy said, 'I shall give chase and overtake, 'I shall share out the spoil and
glut myself on them, 'I shall draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.'
10You
blew with your breath, the sea closed over them; they sank like lead in the
terrible waters.
11Yahweh,
who is like you, majestic in sanctity, who like you among the holy ones,
fearsome of deed, worker of wonders?
12You
stretched your right hand out, the earth swallowed them!
If you live according to my laws, if you
keep my commandments and put them into practice,
***
7You
will pursue your enemies and they will fall before your sword; 8five
of you pursuing a hundred of them, one hundred pursuing ten thousand; and your
enemies will fall before your sword.
Our
brothers have discouraged us by saying that the people are stronger and taller
than we are, the cities immense, with walls reaching to the sky. And we have
seen Anakim there too. 29 'And I said to you, "Do not take
fright, do not be afraid of them. 30 Yahweh your God goes ahead of
you and will be fighting on your side, just as you saw him act in Egypt. 31You
have seen him in the desert too: Yahweh your God continued to support you, as a
man supports his son, all along the road you followed until you arrived
here."
I then
gave Joshua this order, "You can see for yourself everything that Yahweh
our God has done to these two kings; Yahweh will do the same to all the
kingdoms through which you pass. 22Do not be afraid of them: Yahweh
your God himself is fighting for you."
He will put their kings at your mercy
and you will blot out their names under heaven
Beware of thinking to yourself, "My
own strength and the might of my own hand have given me the power to act like
this." 18Remember Yahweh your God; he was the one who gave you
the strength to act effectively like this, thus keeping then, as today, the
covenant which he swore to your ancestors.
A people great and tall, these Anakim,
as you know; you have heard the saying: Who can stand up to the sons of Anak? 3Know
then today that Yahweh your God himself will go ahead of you, destroying them
like a devouring fire, and that he himself will subdue them before you so that
you can dispossess and quickly make an end of them, as Yahweh has already said.
When
you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army
greater than your own, you must not be afraid of them; Yahweh your God is with
you, he who brought you out of Egypt. 2When you are about to join
battle, the priest must come forward and address the people. 3He
must say to them, "Listen, Israel: today you are about to join battle with
your enemies. Do not be faint hearted. Let there be no fear or trembling or
alarm as you face them. 4Yahweh your God is marching with you, to
fight your enemies for you and make you victorious.
Be strong, stand firm, have no fear, do
not be afraid of them, for Yahweh your God is going with you; he will not fail
you or desert you.'
Yahweh is the shield that protects you
and the sword that leads you to triumph. Your enemies will try to corrupt you,
but you yourself will trample on their backs.
Joshua then said, 'Clear the mouth of
the cave and bring the five kings out to me.'23They did so, and
brought the five kings out of the cave to take them to him: the king of
Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish and the
king of Eglon. 24When these kings had been brought out, Joshua
assembled all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the warriors who had
fought with him, 'Come forward and put your feet on the necks of these kings!'
They came forward and put their feet on their necks. 25'Be fearless
and undaunted,' Joshua went on, 'be strong and stand firm, for this is how
Yahweh will deal with all the enemies you fight.'
You for your part have witnessed all
that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations for your sake; Yahweh your
God himself has fought for you.
***
Yahweh has dispossessed great and
powerful nations before you, and no one so far has been able to resist you. 10One
man of you was able to rout a thousand of them, since Yahweh your God was
himself fighting for you, as he had promised you. 11Be very careful,
as you value your life, to love Yahweh your God.
Yahweh then said to
Gideon, 'There are too many people with you for me to put Midian into their
power; Israel might claim the credit for themselves at my expense: they might
say, "My own hand has rescued me.”
Yahweh makes poor and rich, he humbles
and also exalts. 8He raises the poor from the dust, he lifts the
needy from the dunghill to give them a place with princes, to assign them a
seat of honor; for to Yahweh belong the pillars of the earth, on these he has
poised the world. 9He safeguards the steps of his faithful but the
wicked vanish in darkness (for human strength can win no victories).
Yahweh
is free to grant deliverance
through a few men, just as much as through many.
Yahweh
does not give victory by means of sword and spear -- for Yahweh is lord of the
battle and he will deliver you into our power.
Next day, Elisha got up early and went
out; and there surrounding the town was an armed force with horses and
chariots. 'Oh, my lord,' his servant said, 'what are we to do?'16'Do
not be afraid,' he replied, 'for there are more on our side than on theirs.' 17And
Elisha prayed. 'Yahweh,' he said, 'open his eyes and make him see.' Yahweh opened
the servant's eyes, and he saw the mountain covered in fiery horses and
chariots surrounding Elisha.
Israelites, do not make war on Yahweh,
God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.
'Yahweh, numbers and strength make no
difference to you when you give your help. Help us, Yahweh our God, for,
relying on you, we are confronting this horde in your name. Yahweh, you are our
God. Human strength cannot prevail against you!'
Yahweh says this to you, “Do not be
afraid, do not be daunted by this vast horde, for the war is not your affair
but God's.”
Be strong and brave; do not be afraid or
tremble when you face the king of Assyria and the whole horde he brings with
him, for there are more on our side than on his. 8He has only human
strength, but we have Yahweh our God to help us and fight our battles.
Prayer with fasting and
alms with uprightness are better than riches with iniquity. Better to practice
almsgiving than to hoard up gold.
How could anyone claim to
be upright before God? 3Anyone trying to argue matters with him,
could not give him one answer in a thousand. 4Among the wisest and
the hardiest, who then can successfully defy him?
Had I put my trust in gold or called
fine gold my security; 25 or
had I rejoiced that my wealth was great, or that my hand had acquired abundance
***
28 This
too would be a crime for condemnation, for I should
have denied God above.
Yahweh, how countless are my enemies,
how countless those who rise up against me, 2how countless those who
say of me, 'No salvation for him from his God!
3But
you, Yahweh, the shield at my side, my glory, you hold my head high.
4I cry
out to Yahweh; he answers from his holy mountain.
5As for
me, if I lie down and sleep, I shall awake, for Yahweh sustains me.
6I have
no fear of people in their thousands upon thousands, who range themselves
against me wherever I turn.
Now I know the Lord gives victory to his
anointed. He will answer him from the holy heavens with a strong arm that
brings victory. 8 Some rely on chariots, others on horses,
but we on the name of the Lord our God.
9 They collapse and fall, but
we stand strong and firm.
Yahweh is my light and my salvation,
whom should I fear? Yahweh is the fortress of my life, whom should I dread?
2When
the wicked advance against me to eat me up, they, my opponents, my enemies, are
the ones who stumble and fall.
3Though
an army pitch camp against me, my heart will not fear, though war break out
against me, my trust will never be shaken.
A large army will not keep a king safe,
nor his strength save a warrior's life;17it is delusion to rely on a
horse for safety, for all its power it cannot save.
18But see
how Yahweh watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his faithful
love, 19to rescue them from death and keep them alive in famine.
20We are
waiting for Yahweh; he is our help and our shield, 21for in him our
heart rejoices, in his holy name we trust.
22Yahweh,
let your faithful love rest on us, as our hope has rested in you.
What little the upright
possesses outweighs all the wealth of the wicked; 17 for the weapons of the
wicked shall be shattered, while Yahweh supports the upright.
It was not their own sword
that won the land, nor their own arms which made them victorious, but your hand
it was and your arm, and the light of your presence, for you loved them.
***
6For my trust was not in my bow, my victory was not won by my
sword; 7it was you who saved us from our opponents, you who put to
shame those who hate us.
I am not afraid in times of danger when
I am surrounded by enemies, 6 by evil people
who trust in their riches and boast of their great wealth. 7 We
can never redeem ourselves; we cannot pay
God the price for our lives, 8 because the
payment for a human life is too great. What we could pay would never be enough 9 to
keep us from the grave, to let us live
forever. 10 Anyone can see that even the wise die, as
well as the foolish and stupid. They all leave their riches to their
descendants.
So God will ruin you forever; he will
take hold of you and snatch you from your home; he will remove you from the
world of the living. 6 Righteous
people will see this and be afraid; then they will laugh at you and say, 7 “Look,
here is someone who did not depend on God for safety, but
trusted instead in great wealth and looked for
security in being wicked.” 8 But I am like
an olive tree growing in the house of God; I trust in his constant love forever
and ever.
In God, whose word I praise, in God I
put my trust and have no fear, what power has human strength over me?
***
10In God
whose word I praise, in Yahweh whose word I praise,11in God I put my
trust and have no fear; what can mortal man do to me?
Even if your riches increase, don't
depend on them. 11 More than once I have heard God say that
power belongs to him.
He cuts short the breath
of princes, strikes terror in earthly kings.
Bring us help in our time of crisis, any
human assistance is worthless.
13With
God we shall do deeds of valor, he will trample down our enemies.
At your right hand, Lord, he shatters
kings when his anger breaks out.
With Yahweh on my side I fear nothing;
what can human beings do to me?
7With
Yahweh on my side as my help, I gloat over my enemies.
8It is
better to take refuge in Yahweh than to rely on human beings;
9better
to take refuge in Yahweh than to rely on princes.
10Nations
were swarming around me, in the name of Yahweh I cut them down;11they
swarmed around me, pressing upon me, in the name of Yahweh I cut them down.
12They
swarmed around me like bees, they flared up like a brushwood fire, in the name
of Yahweh I cut them down.
13I was
pushed hard, to make me fall, but Yahweh came to my help.
14Yahweh
is my strength and my song, he has been my Savior.
Sublime as he is, Yahweh looks on the
humble, the proud he picks out from afar.7Though I live surrounded
by trouble you give me life -- to my enemies' fury! You stretch out your right
hand and save me
Do not put your trust in princes, in any
child of Adam, who has no power to save. 4When his spirit goes forth
he returns to the earth, on that very day all his plans come to nothing.
He takes no delight in the power of
horses, no pleasure in human sturdiness; 11his pleasure is in those
who fear him, in those who hope in his faithful love.12Praise
Yahweh, Jerusalem, Zion, praise your God.
Riches do not profit in the day of
wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
Confidence placed in riches comes to
nothing.
Those who trust in their riches will
fall,
but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.
The ransom for life is a
person's wealth; but the poor will not hear the reproof.
Better to have little and
with it fear of Yahweh than immense wealth and with it anxiety.
17
Better a dish of herbs when love is there than a fattened ox and hatred to go
with it.
Better have little and
with it uprightness than great revenues with injustice.
Better be humble with the
poor than share the booty with the proud.
Better a mouthful of dry
bread with peace than a house filled with quarrelsome sacrifices.
Better the poor living an
honest life than the adept at double-talk who is a fool.
No wisdom, no
understanding, no advice is worth anything before Yahweh.
Fit out the cavalry for
the day of battle, but the victory is Yahweh's.
Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do
not trust your own cleverness. 5 Cast but a
glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will
surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
To be afraid of human beings is a snare,
whoever trusts in Yahweh is secure.
Better someone poor living
an honest life than someone of devious ways however rich.
keep falsehood and lies
far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches, grant me only my share of
food, 9 for fear that, surrounded
by plenty, I should fall away and say, 'Yahweh-who is Yahweh?' or else, in
destitution, take to stealing and profane the name of my God.
Another thing I have
observed under the sun: that the race is not won by the speediest, nor the
battle by the champions; it is not the wise who get food, nor the intelligent
wealth, nor the learned favor: chance and mischance befall them all.
Do not set your heart on your wealth,
nor say, “I have enough.”
The Lord has turned mighty princes off
their thrones and seated the humble there instead.
15The
Lord has plucked up the proud by the roots, and planted the lowly in their
place.
16The
Lord has overthrown the lands of the nations and destroyed them to the very
foundations of the earth.
17Sometimes
he has taken them away and destroyed them, and blotted out their memory from
the earth.
Do not say, “I have enough, and what
calamity could happen to me in the future?”
Human
pride will lower its eyes, human arrogance will be humbled, and Yahweh alone
will be exalted, on that day. 12That will be a day for Yahweh
Sabaoth, for all who are majestic and haughty, for all who are proud, to be
brought low,
***
17Human pride will be humbled, human arrogance
brought low, and Yahweh alone will be exalted, on that day.
Devise plans as you may: they will come
to nothing! Make what pronouncements you like; it will not come about! For God
is with us!'
See how the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth violently lops off the foliage! The ones standing highest are
cut down, the proudest are laid low!
I am going to … humble the
haughtiness of despots.
How did you come to fall
from the heavens, Daystar, son of Dawn? How did you come to be thrown to the
ground, conqueror of nations?13You who used to think to yourself: I
shall scale the heavens; higher than the stars of God I shall
set my throne. I shall sit on the Mount of Assembly far away to the north.
14I shall climb high above the clouds, I shall rival the Most
High." 15Now you have been flung down to Sheol, into the depths
of the abyss!
I shall hound you from
your office, I shall snatch you from your post
Woe to
those going down to Egypt for help, who put their trust in horses, who rely on
the quantity of chariots, and on great strength of cavalrymen, but do not look
to the Holy One of Israel or consult Yahweh.
Through your minions you
have insulted the Lord, thinking: With my many chariots I have climbed the
mountain-tops, the utmost peaks of Lebanon. I have felled its mighty cedars,
its finest cypresses, have reached its furthest peak, its forest garden.25Yes,
I have dug and drunk of foreign waters; under the soles of my feet I have dried
up all Egypt's rivers.
26Do you hear? Long ago I prepared this, from days of old I
actually planned it, now I carry it out. You were to lay walled cities in heaps
of ruins; 27that was why their inhabitants, feeble of hand, were
dismayed and discomfited, were weak as grass, were frail as plants, were like
grass of housetop and meadow under the east wind.
28But whether you stand up or sit down, whether you go out or come
in, I know it (and how you rave against me). 29Because you have
raved against me and your arrogance has reached my ears, I shall put a hook
through your nostrils and a muzzle on your lips, and make you return by the
road by which you came.
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the
rich man glory in his riches; 24 but let him
who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord
who practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in
these things I delight, says the Lord.”
Yahweh
says this, 'Accursed be anyone who trusts in human beings, who relies on human
strength and whose heart turns from Yahweh. 6Such a person is like
scrub in the wastelands: when good comes, it does not affect him since he lives
in the parched places of the desert, uninhabited, salt land.
Were Babylon to scale the
heavens or reinforce her towering citadel, destroyers would still come to her
on my orders, Yahweh declares.
And all the trees of the countryside will
know that I, Yahweh, am the one who lays the tall tree low and raises the low
tree high, who makes the green tree wither and makes the withered bear fruit.
I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I will do it.
I shall take pity on the
House of Judah and shall save them, not by bow or sword or force of arms, not
by horses or horsemen, but by Yahweh their God.
Yet it was I who destroyed
the Amorite before them, he who was as tall as the cedars, as strong as the
oaks; I who destroyed his fruit above ground and his roots below.
Flight will be cut off for the swift,
the strong will have no chance to exert his strength nor the warrior be able to
save his life;15the archer will not stand his ground, the swift of
foot will not escape, nor will the horseman save his life; 16even
the bravest of warriors will jettison his arms and run away, that day!
-declares Yahweh!
Should they burrow into
Sheol, my hand will haul them
out; should they climb to heaven, I shall bring them down.
Though you soar like an
eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, I shall bring you down from
there!-declares Yahweh.
When that day comes-
declares Yahweh- I shall tear your horses away from you, I shall destroy your
chariots; 10I shall tear the cities from your country, I shall
overthrow all your fortresses
He will raise his hand against the north
and bring Assyria down in ruins; he will make Nineveh a waste, as dry as a
desert.14Flocks will rest inside there, so will wild animals;
pelican and porcupine will nest round her cornices at night; the owl will hoot
at the window and the raven croak on the doorstep -- for the cedar has been
torn down. 15This is what the city will be like, once living happy
and carefree and thinking to itself, 'I have no rival -- not I!' And what will
it be now? A ruin, a lair for wild beasts to rest in, and everyone who passes
by will whistle and throw up his hands.
I shall overturn the
thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kings
of the nations. I shall overthrow the chariots and their crews; horses and
their riders will fall, every one to the sword of
his comrade.
When they fight, because Yahweh is with
them, they will put mounted men to rout.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures
on earth, where moth and rust consume and
where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes
and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Do not be afraid of those
who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy
both body and soul in hell.
See also Luke 12:4-5
Jesus said to him, “If you would be
perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
The Almighty has done
great things for me. Holy is his name, 50and his faithful love
extends age after age to those who fear him. 51He has used the power
of his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart. 52He has pulled
down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly.
And he told them a parable, saying, “The
land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; 17 and
he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
18 And
he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and
there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And
I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take
your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said
to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have
prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is he who
lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Do not labor for the food which
perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man
will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal.”
If God is for us, who can be against us?
As for me, I am full of
joy in the Lord, now that at last your consideration for me has blossomed
again; though I recognize that you really did have consideration before, but
had no opportunity to show it.11 I do not say this because I have lacked anything; I have learnt
to manage with whatever I have.12 I know how to live modestly, and I know how to live luxuriously
too: in every way now I have mastered the secret of all conditions: full
stomach and empty stomach, plenty and poverty.13 There is nothing I cannot do in the One who strengthens me.
And now, you rich people, listen to me!
Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your
riches have rotted away, and your clothes have been eaten by moths. 3 Your
gold and silver are covered with rust, and this rust will be a witness against
you and will eat up your flesh like fire. You have piled up riches in these
last days. 4 You have not paid any wages to those who
work in your fields. Listen to their complaints! The cries of those who gather
in your crops have reached the ears of God, the Lord Almighty. 5 Your
life here on earth has been full of luxury and pleasure. You have made
yourselves fat for the day of slaughter. 6 You
have condemned and murdered innocent people, and they do not resist you.
You say to yourself: I am
rich, I have made a fortune and have everything I want, never realizing that
you are wretchedly and pitiably poor, and blind and naked too. 18 I warn you, buy from me
the gold that has been tested in the fire to make you truly rich, and white
robes to clothe you and hide your shameful nakedness, and ointment to put on
your eyes to enable you to see.
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