Jesus then came, and took bread, and gave them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

Jesus then came, and took bread, and gave them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

Friends, today the LORD begins by ending the mystery of the bread and fishes, the revelation of truth corrupted, trample underfoot, by the creations of men’s imagination, and replaced with fables, as foretold.

In the title verse, John 21:13 & 14, the word rendered bread (and elsewhere loaves) is artos, from the word airo. This word’s Strong’s Greek Dictionary definition is, “to lift up; by implication, to take up or away; figuratively, to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind), specially, to sail away (i.e. weigh anchor); by Hebraism (compare 5375 [nasa – to lift {into the heavens}]) to expiate sin.”

The idea of the word as used is to tell of Divine truth delivered, understanding given, knowing it would be returned to heaven (become unknown) and need to be brought again to light at the coming of the son of man. (see John 3:13 below)

John 3
10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Are you a master [teacher] of Israel, and know not these things?
11 Truly, truly, I say unto you, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and you receive not our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

The LORD tells us, in John 13, of the betrayer who sat at His table and ate His bread. Therein He also gave the example of washing the feet of all His followers. We are told this is to fulfill what is written in Psalms 41:9, which also tells of this one lifting His heal against the LORD. As we’ve previously discussed, these ideas together giving us the meaning, we understand His washing our feet is the pattern of washing away the filth (of the heal) that was picked up in our pilgrimage from then until now. This filth is the fables, creations of men, who’ve trampled under-foot truth, the knowledge of God, after receiving its enlightening, which is spoken of in Hebrews 10:26 & 29.

Hebrews 10
15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the LORD, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21 And having a high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.
26 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under-foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, says the LORD. And again, The LORD shall judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

John 13
3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
4 He rose from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
6 Then comes he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, LORD, do you wash my feet?
7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do you knowest not now; but you shall know hereafter.
8 Peter saith unto him, You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash you not, you have no part with me.
9 Simon Peter saith unto him, LORD, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and you are clean, but not all.
11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, You are not all clean.
12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know you what I have done to you?
13 You call me Master and LORD: and you say well; for so I am.
14 If I then, your LORD and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
16 Truly, truly, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his LORD; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
17 If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.
18 I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture [see Psalms 41:9 below] may be fulfilled, He that eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.
19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, you may believe that I am he.
20 Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that receives whomsoever I send receives me; and he that receives me receives him that sent me.

John 21
10 Jesus said unto them, Bring of the fish which you have now caught.
11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
12 Jesus said unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who are you? knowing that it was the LORD.
13 Jesus then came, and took bread, and gave them, and fish likewise.
14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.
15 So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah [first to shore], love you me more than these? He said unto him, Yea, LORD; you know that I love you. He said unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He said to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonah, love you me? He said unto him, Yea, LORD; you know that I love you. He said unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He said unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, love you me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Love you me? And he said unto him, LORD, you know all things; you know that I love you. Jesus said unto him, Feed my sheep.
18 Truly, truly, I say unto you, When you were young, you girded yourself, and walked whither you would [wandered because there was no man to take you by the hand, as I am]: but when you shall be old, you shall stretch forth your hands, and another shall gird [prepare you for the course ahead of] you, and carry you whither you would not.
19 This spoke he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said unto him, Follow me [into life].

Psalms 41
1 Blessed is he that considers the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
2 The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and you will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
3 The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: you will make all his bed in his sickness.
4 I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against you.
5 Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?
6 And if he comes to see me, he speaks vanity: his heart gathers iniquity to itself; when he goes abroad, he tells it.
7 All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.
8 An evil disease, say they, cleaves fast unto him: and now that he lies he shall rise up no more.
9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But you, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite [shalam – be saved from] them.
11 By this I know that you favor me, because mine enemy does not triumph over me.
12 And as for me, you uphold me in mine integrity, and set me before your face forever.
13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

In John 21 the words fishes and fish are from different Greek words, and both are said to be from unknown origins. As we know, the “fish” that is said to have swallowed Jonah is from the Hebrew word dag, also from an uncertain origin, meaning an anxious agitation, and telling of the underlying cause of the storm in the sea (the people at large). We also know, the word the LORD uses in Matthew 12:40, rendered “whale’s” belly, is the one-time used Greek word ketos, from the one-time used word chasma. The formers speak of the chasm of the large and wide-open mouth in the sea. The latter is the great “gulf” between heaven and hell. We know, from Luke 16:31, hell is the place where are those who refuse to believe the word of God, and keep running their mouths full of guile, even though one (like Macaiah) was sent from the dead to warn them. These words speak of the unbridled tongue of the wicked that causes confusion, chaos, and agitates the masses into panicked (mindless) delusion.

The Greek word, above in John 21:11, rendered “fishes,” is ichthus, apparently from ichnos, a three-times used word meaning steps, and from a word meaning to arrive; and thuo, meaning to rush, and said to mean a sacrifice by fire, or to immolate.

The word ichnos appear in 1 Peter 2:21, in context, telling us of the sacrifice, His and our long-suffering the open mouths of the wicked, the deceivers, and the deceived; and of the return of understanding, by the sincere milk of the word, as we return to the Shepherd and Bishop.

1 Peter 2
1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile [deception], and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speaking,
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby:
3 If so be you have tasted that the LORD is gracious.
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
5 You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believes on him shall not be confounded.
7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;
10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the LORD’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward [those who twist and pervert truth, and doing good heap coals of fire upon their heads].
19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
20 For what glory is it, if, when you be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently? but if, when you do well, and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
21 For even hereunto were you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps [ichnos – walk as He walked, the highway]:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judges righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed.
25 For you were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Romans 12
9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another;
11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the LORD;
12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If it be possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the LORD.
20 Therefore if your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

The word “fish,” in John 21:10 &13, is opsarion, from words meaning late in the day, or at the end of the day, when the sun goes down. These fishes and loaves, of which the LORD expounded their meaning into understanding, for which he suffered, died, and became unseen (as the light left and those who betrayed Him sold away understanding for mere morsels). It is in like manner the same understanding has returned.

The LORD says these same men, the betrayers, are those He speaks of in Daniel 8:23. These are those who now understand and still refuse to return to the LORD, instead, they seek to magnify themselves.

Daniel 8
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut you up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

Daniel 9
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 And I set my face unto the LORD God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O LORD, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments:
6 Neither have we hearkened unto your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 O LORD, righteousness belongs unto you, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.
8 O LORD, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.
9 To the LORD our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him;
10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed your law, even by departing, that they might not obey your voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
12 And he has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven has not been done as has been done upon Jerusalem.
13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand your truth.
14 Therefore has the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he does: for we obeyed not his voice.
15 And now, O LORD our God, that have brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten you renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 O LORD, according to all your righteousness, I beseech you, let your anger and your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of your servant, and his supplications, and cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that is desolate, for the LORD’s sake.
18 O my God, incline your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies.
19 O LORD, hear; O LORD, forgive; O LORD, hearken and do; defer not, for your own sake, O my God: for your city and your people are called by your name.
20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give you skill and understanding.
23 At the beginning of your supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation [the full end, the finish], and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

The Hebrew word rendered “seal up,” in verse 24 above, is chatham, and means to close up, as in to end or finish. Its use here is referring us to the four times it appears in Jeremiah, all in Jeremiah 32, verses 10, 11, 14, & 44.

Jeremiah 31
31 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, says the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Jeremiah 32
10 And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it [chatham – finished it], and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.
11 So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed [chatham – finished] according to the law and custom, and that which was open:
12 And I gave the evidence [God gave full proof of my ministry] of the purchase unto Baruch [blessed] the son of Neriah [by the light {understanding} of Jehovah], the son of Maaseiah [the refuge, sanctuary, of Jehovah], in the sight of Hanameel [now seen as the favor of God] mine uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
13 And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
14 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed [chatham – finished], and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
15 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
16 Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah [to those blessed by this light {understanding} of Jehovah], I prayed unto the LORD, saying,
17 Ah LORD God! behold, you have made the heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for you:
18 You show lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,
19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for your eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
20 Which have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and have made you a name, as at this day;
21 And have brought forth your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
22 And have given them this land, which you did swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
23 And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not your voice, neither walked in your law; they have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do: therefore you have caused all this evil to come upon them:
24 Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans [those who have used their words to manipulate and control us], that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what you have spoken is come to pass; and, behold, you see it.
25 And you have said unto me, O LORD God, Buy you the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
28 Therefore thus says the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says the LORD.
31 For this city has been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom [hell], to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech [the idols of the heathen who ruled the old world]; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
36 And now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof you say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;
37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
42 For thus says the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
43 And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof you say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal [chatham – finish] them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, says the LORD.

Hebrews 12
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.
4 You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children, My son, despise not you the chastening of the LORD, nor faint when you are rebuked of him:
6 For whom the LORD loves he chastens [corrects], and scourges [disciplines – disciples] every son whom he receives.

Psalms 97
1 The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
3 A fire goes before him, and burns up his enemies round about.
4 His lightning enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.
5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the LORD of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.
7 Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all you gods.
8 Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of your judgments, O LORD.
9 For you, LORD, are high above all the earth: you are exalted far above all gods.
10 You that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserves the souls of his saints; he delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.