“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. "Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. "For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.
"As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’ "For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me.
"But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other ELOHIMs and worship them, then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
"Say to them, ‘Thus says YAHWEH ELOHIM, “This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are in it.”’ "Say, ‘I am a sign to you As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.’ "Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, if you would listen to Me! "Oh that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! "But My people did not listen to My voice, and Israel did not obey Me. "I, YAHWEH, am your ELOHIM, who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. "But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness.
They did not walk in My statutes and they rejected My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; and My sabbaths they greatly profaned Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them. "But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out. How shall I admonish you? To what shall I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what shall I liken you as I comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is as vast as the sea; Who can heal you?
The Greatness of ELOHIM, "Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your ELOHIM. "Speak kindly to Jerusalem; and call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of YAHWEH’S hand Double for all her sins.” Israel Exhorted, "Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek YAHWEH: Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug.
"Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; when he was but one I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him.” Indeed, YAHWEH will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places and her wilderness He will make like Eden, and her desert like the garden of YAHWEH; Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and sound of a melody.
"Pay attention to Me, O My people, and give ear to Me, O My nation; for a law will go forth from Me, and I will set My justice for a light of the peoples. "My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, and My arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands will wait for Me, and for My arm they will wait expectantly. "Lift up your eyes to the sky, then look to the earth beneath; for the sky will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants will die in like manner; but My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will not wane.
"Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, a people in whose ) heart is My law; Do not fear the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. "For the moth will eat them like a garment, and the grub will eat them like wool but My righteousness will be forever, and My salvation to all generations.”
"As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel. Therefore as I live,” declares YAHWEH ELOHIM, “I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your envy which you showed because of your hatred against them; so I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.
"Then you will know that I, YAHWEH, have heard all your revilings which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are given to us for food.’ "And you have spoken arrogantly against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard it.” ’Thus says YAHWEH ELOHIM, “As all the earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation.
"As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you will be a desolation, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am YAHWEH.”’ And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth will be
‘But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. ‘For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. ‘I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt.
‘I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am YAHWEH. ‘Yes, I will cause men—My people Israel—to walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.’
"Thus says YAHWEH ELOHIM, ‘Because they say to you, “You are a devourer of men and have bereaved your nation of children,” therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ declares YAHWEH ELOHIM. "I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble any longer,” declares YAHWEH ELOHIM.’”
"But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. Israel to Be Renewed for His Name’s Sake, "Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says YAHWEH ELOHIM, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.
"I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst Then the nations will know that I am YAHWEH,” declares YAHWEH ELOHIM, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
"Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. "You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your ELOHIM. "Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you.
"I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
