24 Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

² And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

³ The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.

⁴ The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

⁵ The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

⁶ Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

⁷ The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.

⁸ The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.

⁹ They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

¹⁰ The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

¹¹ There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.

¹² In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

¹³ When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.

¹⁴ They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea.

¹⁵ Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea.

¹⁶ From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

¹⁷ Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.

¹⁸ And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.

¹⁹ The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.

²⁰ The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

²¹ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.

²² And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.

²³ Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

25 O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

² For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

³ Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

⁴ For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

⁵ Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

⁶ And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

⁷ And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

⁸ He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

⁹ And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

¹⁰ For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.

¹¹ And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.

¹² And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

26 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.

² Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.

³ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

⁴ Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength:

⁵ For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.

⁶ The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

⁷ The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.

⁸ Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.

⁹ With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

¹⁰ Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.

¹¹ Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.

¹² Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

¹³ O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.

¹⁴ They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

¹⁵ Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.

¹⁶ Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

¹⁷ Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord.

¹⁸ We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

¹⁹ Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

²⁰ Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

²¹ For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

48 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

² Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

³ God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

⁴ For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together.

⁵ They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.

⁶ Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

⁷ Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

⁸ As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.

⁹ We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.

¹⁰ According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.

¹¹ Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.

¹² Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.

¹³ Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.

¹⁴ For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

23 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:

² And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

³ Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

⁴ Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

⁵ Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

⁶ Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

⁷ For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

⁸ The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

⁹ Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

¹⁰ Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

¹¹ For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

¹² Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

¹³ Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

¹⁴ Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

¹⁵ My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

¹⁶ Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

¹⁷ Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.

¹⁸ For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

¹⁹ Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

²⁰ Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:

²¹ For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

²² Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

²³ Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

²⁴ The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

²⁵ Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

²⁶ My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

²⁷ For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

²⁸ She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

²⁹ Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

³⁰ They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

³¹ Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

³² At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

³³ Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

³⁴ Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

³⁵ They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

15 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

² And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

³ And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

⁴ What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

⁵ And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

⁶ And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

⁷ I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

⁸ Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?

⁹ And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

¹⁰ Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

¹¹ And he said, A certain man had two sons:

¹² And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.

¹³ And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

¹⁴ And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

¹⁵ And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

¹⁶ And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

¹⁷ And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

¹⁹ And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

²⁰ And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

²¹ And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

²² But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

²³ And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

²⁴ For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

²⁵ Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.

²⁶ And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.

²⁷ And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.

²⁸ And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.

²⁹ And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:

³⁰ But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

³¹ And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

³² It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.