Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
The above comes as the LORD has just precisely described the abominations that caused the desolation and delusion of His people, against which He speaks the above statement. The chapter (Ezekiel 20) ends a few verses later with Ezekiel saying, “Then said I, Ah LORD God! they say of me, Does he not speak parables?” It’s a statement despairing that the people still don’t get it, even after the LORD has just, in great detail, explained it.
The fire spoken of, burning from the south to the north, are understood by those who’ve loved and kept this word of God. You know the Hebrew words for south and north are teyman and tsaphown, the first telling of the place (Teman) of the wise men of Edom, who represent the enemies among us misleading, and the latter meaning darkness (ignorance) and the things hidden therein.
To those in darkness, these words are meaningless, “hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Amos 1
11 Thus says the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom [the enemies mixed among us, misleading into desolation and delusion], and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever:
12 But I will send a fire upon Teman [their wise men], which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah [the things {deceptions} in which they trust].
Ezekiel 20
1 And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month [the day of awakening], that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
2 Then came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
3 Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus says the LORD God; Are you come to enquire of me? As I live, says the LORD God, I will not be enquired of by you.
4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:
5 And say unto them, Thus says the LORD God; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God;
6 In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:
7 Then said I unto them, Cast you away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
8 But they rebelled [marah] against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9 But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
10 Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
11 And I gave them my statutes, and showed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
12 Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
13 But the house of Israel rebelled [marah] against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
14 But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.
15 Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
16 Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.
18 But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk you not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:
19 I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;
20 And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.
21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled [marah] against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my Sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
22 Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth.
23 I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;
24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.
25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that open the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.
27 Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus says the LORD God; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
28 For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savor, and poured out there their drink offerings.
29 Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto you go? And the name whereof is called Bamah unto this day.
30 Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the LORD God; Are you polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit you whoredom after their abominations?
31 For when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, you pollute yourselves with all your idols [your words and your ways put in the place where this word and My ways should be], even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the LORD God, I will not be enquired of by you.
32 And that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, that you say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
33 As I live, says the LORD God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, says the LORD God.
37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the LORD.
39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the LORD God; Go you, serve you every one his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not hearken unto me: but pollute you my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.
40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the LORD God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
41 I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
42 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.
43 And there shall you remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein you have been defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.
44 And you shall know that I am the LORD when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O you house of Israel, says the LORD God.
45 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
46 Son of man, set your face [paniym – the LORD’s presence] toward the south [teyman], and drop your word toward the south [darown – the thorns, misleader who’ve sprung up among God’s people], and prophesy against the forest of the south [negeb – men causing the drought for hearing this word of God] field;
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus says the LORD God; Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
48 And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.
49 Then said I, Ah LORD God! they say of me, Does he not speak parables?
The word “drop,” in verse 46 above, is the Hebrew word nataph, meaning “to ooze, i.e. distil gradually; by implication, to fall in drops; figuratively, to speak by inspiration.” It is speaking of the word of God, coming as the latter rain to end the drought. Ezekiel uses the word one other time, in Ezekiel 21:2, as the LORD tells him to “drop” his word toward the holy places. Later, in verse 25, he speaks of ending the “wicked” prince(s) of God’s people, of which the LORD God, in verses 26 & 27, says, “Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”
Chapter 21 ends with the LORD speaking of the same fire against the Ammonites, a name meaning tribal, and referring to those who exalt themselves and their words above God and His word.
Ezekiel 21
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop [nataph] your word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,
3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD; Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked [Judah and Ammon – the corrupt leaders and the wicked leaders mixed among them].
4 Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north [the drought, negeb, and the things hidden therein]:
5 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.
6 Sigh therefore, you son of man, with the breaking of your loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
7 And it shall be, when they say unto you, Wherefore sigh you? that you shall answer, For the tidings; because it comes: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it comes, and shall be brought to pass, says the LORD God.
8 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:
10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemn the rod of my son, as every tree.
11 And he has given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.
12 Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon your thigh.
13 Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, says the LORD God.
14 You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite your hands together. and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which enter into their privy chambers.
15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.
16 Go you one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever your face is set.
17 I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.
18 The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
19 Also, you son of man, appoint you two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose you a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.
20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath [the great men] of the Ammonites [who exalt their words above God], and to Judah in Jerusalem the defensed.
21 For the king of Babylon [those who rule by deception and confusion] stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver [deep places].
22 At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.
23 And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.
24 Therefore thus says the LORD God; Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that you are come to remembrance, you shall be taken with the hand.
25 And you, profane wicked prince [the princes of verse 12 above] of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,
26 Thus says the LORD God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
28 And you, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the LORD God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say you, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:
29 Whiles they see vanity unto you, whiles they divine a lie unto you, to bring you upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.
30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your nativity.
31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon you, I will blow against [the four winds now loosed upon the ignorant multitude in great tribulation] you in the fire of my wrath, and deliver you into the hand of brutish men, and skillful to destroy.
32 You shall be for fuel to the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shall be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.
Micah 2
1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
3 Therefore thus says the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which you shall not remove your necks; neither shall you go haughtily: for this time is evil.
4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he has changed the portion of my people: how has he removed it from me! turning away he has divided our fields.
5 Therefore you shall have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD.
6 Prophesy [nataph] you not, say they to them that prophesy [nataph]: they shall not prophesy [nataph] to them, that they shall not take shame.
7 O you that are named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walks uprightly?
8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: you pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
9 The women of my people have you cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have you taken away my glory forever.
10 Arise you, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy [nataph] unto you of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet [nataph] of this people.
12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of you; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise [the voice spoken of in Micah 6:1 below] by reason of the multitude of men.
13 The breaker is come up before [paniym – the presence of the LORD working unknown] them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before [paniym – the LORD’s presence in him working] them, and the LORD on the head of them.
Micah 3
1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and you princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face [paniym – presence] from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that you shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that you shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, I pray you, you heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
Micah 4
1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken it.
5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.
6 In that day, says the LORD, will I assemble her that halts [was lame and went astray], and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them [His presence in His chosen king] in mount Zion from henceforth, even forever.
8 And you, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto you shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why do you cry out aloud? is there no king in you? is your counsellor perished? for pangs have taken you as a woman in travail.
10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shall you go forth out of the city, and you shall dwell in the field, and you shall go even to Babylon; there shall you be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies.
11 Now also many nations are gathered against you, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs brass: and you shall beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the LORD of the whole earth.
Micah 5
1 Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops: he has laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
2 But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travails has brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian [the communists who’ve nowcome] shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod [the rebels] in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he comes into our land, and when he treads within our borders.
7 And the [elect] remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarries not for man, nor wait for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treads down, and tears in pieces, and none can deliver.
9 Your hand shall be lifted up upon your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD, that I will cut off your horses out of the midst of you, and I will destroy your chariots:
11 And I will cut off the cities of your land, and throw down all your strong holds:
12 And I will cut off witchcrafts [those using their words as spells to manipulate and control the ignorant] out of your hand; and you shall have no more soothsayers [those using deception, saying the see the future, lies to mislead into their evil traps]:
13 Your graven images also will I cut off, and your standing images out of the midst of you; and you shall no more worship the work of your hands.
14 And I will pluck up your groves out of the midst of you: so will I destroy your cities.
15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
Micah 6
1 Hear you now what the LORD says; Arise, contend you before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear you, O mountains, the LORD’s controversy, and you strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD has a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.
3 O my people, what have I done unto you? and wherein have I wearied you? testify against me.
4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before [paniym] thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam [as My presence was in Moses unknown, which when I tolds Him to tell you I was in Him, He refused and struck the Rock a second time].
Judges 5
1 Then sang Deborah [order] and Barak [lightning – understanding] the son of Abinoam [in which the Father delights] on that day, saying,
2 Praise you the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.
3 Hear, O you kings; give ear, O you princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.
4 LORD, when you went out of Seir [left where the devils mislead, as he-goats], when you marched out of the field of Edom [left where the enemies were mixed among us], the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped [nataph – then you word came again], the clouds also dropped [nataph] water.
5 The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai [the place of thorns: misleaders] from before the LORD God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar [the sword] the son of Anath [answered], in the days of Jael [the he-goats in high places], the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through byways.
7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah [order – out of confusion] arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless you the LORD.
10 Speak, you that ride on white asses, you that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.
11 They that are delivered from the noise [qowl – the voices of men] of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah [order awakening out of confusion]: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak [lightning – understanding], and lead your captivity captive, you son of Abinoam [in which the LORD delights].
13 Then he made him that remains have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.
14 Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after you, Benjamin, among your people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.
15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.
16 Why abode you among the sheepfolds, to hear the whining of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben [who took his father’s place] there were great searching of heart.
17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.
18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
19 The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan [humiliated] in Taanach [at the shore] by the waters of Megiddo [of this appointed time]; they took no gain of money.
20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera [those arrayed for battle].
21 The river of Kishon [winding – as not able to see what is ahead] swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, you have trodden down strength.
22 Then were the horse-hoofs broken by the means of the prancing, the prancing of their mighty ones.
23 Curse you Meroz [their worthless refuge], said the angel of the LORD, curse you bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
25 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a LORDly dish.
26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28 The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
29 Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,
30 Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colors, a prey of divers colors of needlework, of divers colors of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?
31 So let all your enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
Psalms 48
1 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 marveled; they were troubled, and hasted away.
6 Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
7 You break 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 forever. Selah.
9 We have thought of your lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of your temple.
10 According to your name, O God, so is your praise unto the ends of the earth: your right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
13 Mark you well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that you may tell it to the generation following.
14 For this God is our God forever and ever: he will be our guide even unto [rising from] death.
