Faith in Crisis: When Deliverance Seems Impossible

1. When king Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahweh’s house. 2. He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3. They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘Today is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. 4. It may be Yahweh your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’” 5. So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6. Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘Yahweh says, “Don’t be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’” 8. So Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish. 9. When he heard it said of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10. ‘Tell Hezekiah king of Judah this: “Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Will you be delivered? 12. Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar? 13. Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?”’” 14. Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to Yahweh’s house, and spread it before Yahweh. 15. Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh, and said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sit above the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16. Incline your ear, Yahweh, and hear. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to defy the living God. 17. Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18. and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them. 19. Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Yahweh, are God alone.” 20. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says ‘You have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, and I have heard you. 21. This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. 22. Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel! 23. By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field. 24. I have dug and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.” 25. Haven’t you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. 26. Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like grain blasted before it has grown up. 27. But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me. 28. Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.’ 29. “This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat its fruit. 30. The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31. For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. Yahweh’s zeal will perform this. 32. “Therefore Yahweh says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there. He will not come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. 33. By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ says Yahweh. 34. ‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’” 35. That night, Yahweh’s angel went out, and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and lived at Nineveh. 37. As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place. 1. In those days Hezekiah was sick and dying. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Set your house in order; for you will die, and not live.’” 2. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Yahweh, saying, 3. “Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4. Before Isaiah had gone out into the middle part of the city, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, 5. “Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, ‘Yahweh, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you will go up to Yahweh’s house. 6. I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.”’” 7. Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. 8. Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I will go up to Yahweh’s house the third day?” 9. Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he has spoken: should the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” 10. Hezekiah answered, “It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.” 11. Isaiah the prophet cried to Yahweh; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz. 12. At that time Berodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13. Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the storehouse of his precious things, the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, or in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them. 14. Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, even from Babylon.” 15. He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.” 16. Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear Yahweh’s word. 17. ‘Behold, the days come that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says Yahweh. 18. ‘They will take away some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will father; and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 19. Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “Yahweh’s word which you have spoken is good.” He said moreover, “Isn’t it so, if peace and truth will be in my days?” 20. Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 21. Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place. 1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2. He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, after the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out before the children of Israel. 3. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he raised up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel did, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served them. 4. He built altars in Yahweh’s house, of which Yahweh said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.” 5. He built altars for all the army of the sky in the two courts of Yahweh’s house. 6. He made his son to pass through the fire, practiced sorcery, used enchantments, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards. He did much evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. 7. He set the engraved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which Yahweh said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever; 8. I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.” 9. But they didn’t listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than the nations did whom Yahweh destroyed before the children of Israel. 10. Yahweh spoke by his servants the prophets, saying, 11. “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has also made Judah to sin with his idols; 12. therefore Yahweh the God of Israel says, ‘Behold, I bring such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13. I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of Ahab’s house; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14. I will cast off the remnant of my inheritance, and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. They will become a prey and a plunder to all their enemies, 15. because they have done that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’” 16. Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. 17. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 18. Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his place. 19. Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20. He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, as Manasseh his father did. 21. He walked in all the ways that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them; 22. and he abandoned Yahweh, the God of his fathers, and didn’t walk in the way of Yahweh. 23. The servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house. 24. But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25. Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 26. He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

1. Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2. Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3. I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. 4. Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem? 5. I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.” 6. He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none. 7. He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down. Why does it waste the soil?’ 8. He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it, and fertilize it. 9. If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’” 10. He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. 11. Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bent over, and could in no way straighten herself up. 12. When Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” 13. He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight, and glorified God. 14. The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!” 15. Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water? 16. Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” 17. As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed, and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. 18. He said, “What is God’s Kingdom like? To what shall I compare it? 19. It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and put in his own garden. It grew, and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky live in its branches.” 20. Again he said, “To what shall I compare God’s Kingdom? 21. It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” 22. He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem. 23. One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” He said to them, 24. “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able. 25. When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26. Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27. He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside. 29. They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in God’s Kingdom. 30. Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.” 31. On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32. He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission. 33. Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it can’t be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.’ 34. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused! 35. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” 1. When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him. 2. Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him. 3. Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 4. But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go. 5. He answered them, “Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” 6. They couldn’t answer him regarding these things. 7. He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, 8. “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, 9. and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. 10. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” 12. He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. 13. But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; 14. and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.” 15. When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!” 16. But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people. 17. He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ 18. They all as one began to make excuses. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19. “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’ 20. “Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’ 21. “That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’ 22. “The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’ 23. “The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24. For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.’” 25. Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them, 26. “If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. 27. Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple. 28. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29. Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, 30. saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31. Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32. Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace. 33. So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple. 34. Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it? 35. It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 1. Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him. 2. The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.” 3. He told them this parable. 4. “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? 5. When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7. I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance. 8. Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn’t light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it? 9. When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.’ 10. Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.” 11. He said, “A certain man had two sons. 12. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between them. 13. Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living. 14. When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. 15. He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16. He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. 17. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! 18. I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. 19. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20. “He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22. “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23. Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate; 24. for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate. 25. “Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26. He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on. 27. He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’ 28. But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him. 29. But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30. But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31. “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32. But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’” 1. He also said to his disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2. He called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3. “The manager said within himself, ‘What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don’t have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg. 4. I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.’ 5. Calling each one of his lord’s debtors to him, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe to my lord?’ 6. He said, ‘A hundred batos of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7. Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred cors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8. “His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light. 9. I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents. 10. He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12. If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13. No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and Mammon.” 14. The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him. 15. He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. 16. The law and the prophets were until John. From that time the Good News of God’s Kingdom is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tiny stroke of a pen in the law to fall. 18. Everyone who divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery. 19. “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. 20. A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores, 21. and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22. The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. 23. In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. 24. He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25. “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted, and you are in anguish. 26. Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’ 27. “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house; 28. for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’ 29. “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ 30. “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31. “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”

1. Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name! Make his doings known among the peoples. 2. Sing to him, sing praises to him! Tell of all his marvelous works. 3. Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice. 4. Seek Yahweh and his strength. Seek his face forever more. 5. Remember his marvelous works that he has done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth, 6. you offspring of Abraham, his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 7. He is Yahweh, our God. His judgments are in all the earth. 8. He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, 9. the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac, 10. and confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute; to Israel for an everlasting covenant, 11. saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance”; 12. when they were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners in it. 13. They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people. 14. He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes, 15. “Don’t touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!” 16. He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies. 17. He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave. 18. They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons, 19. until the time that his word happened, and Yahweh’s word proved him true. 20. The king sent and freed him; even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free. 21. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all of his possessions; 22. to discipline his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom. 23. Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob lived in the land of Ham. 24. He increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their adversaries. 25. He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire against his servants. 26. He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27. They performed miracles among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. 28. He sent darkness, and made it dark. They didn’t rebel against his words. 29. He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish. 30. Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the rooms of their kings. 31. He spoke, and swarms of flies came, and lice in all their borders. 32. He gave them hail for rain, with lightning in their land. 33. He struck their vines and also their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country. 34. He spoke, and the locusts came, and the grasshoppers, without number, 35. ate up every plant in their land; and ate up the fruit of their ground. 36. He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their manhood. 37. He brought them out with silver and gold. There was not one feeble person among his tribes. 38. Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen on them. 39. He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night. 40. They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky. 41. He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places. 42. For he remembered his holy word, and Abraham, his servant. 43. He brought his people out with joy, his chosen with singing. 44. He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession, 45. that they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. Praise Yah!