¹⁴ Wherefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scoffers, that rule this people that is in Jerusalem: ¹⁵ Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: ¹⁶ therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not be in haste. ¹⁷ And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. ¹⁸ And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. ¹⁹ As often as it passeth through, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night: and it shall be nought but terror to understand the message. ²⁰ For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. ²¹ For Jehovah will rise up as in mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act. ²² Now therefore be ye not scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for ^‍a decree of destruction have I heard from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, upon the whole ^‍earth.

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²³ Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. ²⁴ Doth he that ploweth to sow plow continually? doth he continually open and harrow his ground? ²⁵ When he hath levelled the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the ^‍fitches, and scatter the cummin, and put in the wheat in rows, and the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in the border thereof? ²⁶ For his God doth instruct him aright, and doth teach him. ²⁷ For the fitches are not threshed with a sharp threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. ²⁸ Bread grain is ground; for he will not be always threshing it: and though the wheel of his cart and his horses scatter it, he doth not grind it. ²⁹ This also cometh forth from Jehovah of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in ^‍wisdom.

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29 Ho Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! add ye year to year; let the feasts come round: ² then will I distress Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation; ^‍and she shall be unto me as Ariel. ³ And I will encamp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with posted troops, and I will raise siege works against thee. ⁴ And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust; and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall ^‍whisper out of the dust.

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⁵ But the multitude of thy foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be in an instant suddenly. ⁶ She shall be visited of Jehovah of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. ⁷ And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her stronghold, and that distress her, shall be as a dream, a vision of the night. ⁸ And it shall be as when a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

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⁹ Tarry ye and wonder; take your pleasure and be blind: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. ¹⁰ For Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, the seers, hath he covered. ¹¹ And all vision is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed: ¹² and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I am not learned.

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¹³ And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me, and with their mouth and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been ^‍taught them; ¹⁴ therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

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¹⁵ Woe unto them that hide deep their counsel from Jehovah, and whose works are in the dark, and that say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? ¹⁶ Ye turn things upside down! Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say of him that made it, He made me not; or the thing formed say of him that formed it, He hath no understanding?

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¹⁷ Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? ¹⁸ And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. ¹⁹ The meek also shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. ²⁰ For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scoffer ceaseth, and all they that watch for iniquity are cut off; ²¹ that make a man an offender ^‍in his cause, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just with a thing of nought.

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²² Therefore thus saith Jehovah, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. ²³ But when he seeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name; yea, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel. ²⁴ They also that err in spirit ^‍shall come to understanding, and they that murmur shall receive instruction.

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30 Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, that take counsel, but not of me; and that make a league, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin, ² that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to ^‍strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt! ³ Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. ⁴ For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes. ⁵ They shall all be ashamed because of a people that cannot profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.

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⁶ The burden of the beasts of the South.

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Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. ⁷ For Egypt helpeth in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I called her Rahab that sitteth still.

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⁸ Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come ^‍for ever and ever. ⁹ For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah; ¹⁰ that say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, ¹¹ get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

²³ But before faith came, we were kept in ward under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. ²⁴ So that the law is become our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a tutor. ²⁶ For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. ²⁸ There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.

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4 But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a bondservant though he is lord of all; ² but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed of the father. ³ So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the ^‍rudiments of the world: ⁴ but when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. ⁶ And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. ⁷ So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

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⁸ Howbeit at that time, not knowing God, ye were in bondage to them that by nature are no gods: ⁹ but now that ye have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again? ¹⁰ Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years. ¹¹ I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain.

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¹² I beseech you, brethren, become as I am, for I also am become as ye are. Ye did me no wrong: ¹³ but ye know that because of an infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you the first time: ¹⁴ and that which was a temptation to you in my flesh ye despised not, nor ^‍rejected; but ye received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Where then is that gratulation of yourselves? for I bear you witness, that, if possible, ye would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ So then am I become your enemy, ^‍by telling you the truth? ¹⁷ They zealously seek you in no good way; nay, they desire to shut you out, that ye may seek them. ¹⁸ But it is good to be zealously sought in a good matter at all times, and not only when I am present with you. ¹⁹ My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you— ²⁰ but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone; for I am perplexed about you.

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²¹ Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? ²² For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the freewoman. ²³ Howbeit the son by the handmaid is born after the flesh; but the son by the freewoman is born through promise. ²⁴ Which things contain an allegory: for these women are two covenants; one from mount Sinai, bearing children unto bondage, which is Hagar. ²⁵ Now this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is: for she is in bondage with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother. ²⁷ For it is written,

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Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not;
Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not:
For more are the children of the desolate than of her that hath the husband.

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²⁸ Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. ²⁹ But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, so also it is now. ³⁰ Howbeit what saith the scripture? Cast out the handmaid and her son: for the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman. ³¹ Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the freewoman.

God alone a refuge from treachery and oppression.

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For the Chief Musician; after the manner of Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

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62 My soul ^‍waiteth in silence for God only:
From him cometh my salvation.
² He only is my rock and my salvation:
He is my high tower; I shall not be greatly moved.
³ How long will ye set upon a man,
That ye may slay him, all of you,
Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
⁴ They only consult to thrust him down from his dignity;
They delight in lies;
They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah
⁵ My soul, wait thou in silence for God only;
For my expectation is from him.
⁶ He only is my rock and my salvation:
He is my high tower; I shall not be moved.
⁷ With God is my salvation and my glory:
The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
⁸ Trust in him at all times, ye people;
Pour out your heart before him:
God is a refuge for us. Selah
⁹ Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie:
In the balances they will go up;
They are together lighter than vanity.
¹⁰ Trust not in oppression,
And become not vain in robbery:
If riches increase, set not your heart thereon.
¹¹ God hath spoken once,
Twice have I heard this,
That power belongeth unto God.
¹² Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth lovingkindness;
For thou renderest to every man according to his work.

¹⁹ Hear thou, my son, and be wise,
And guide thy heart in the way.
²⁰ Be not among winebibbers,
Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:
²¹ For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty;
And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.