Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.

Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.

The above, 2 Chronicles 30:27, is the chapter’s final verse, which describes Hezekiah’s return (shuwb) to the LORD. In it (the shuwb) he and God’s people (Judah and Israel) keep the Passover, in a time not appointed in the law but by God’s present voice. In it (the Passover) he prayed the LORD would pardon everyone that prepared his heart to seek the LORD God of his fathers. The law (Exodus 12:43) said no stranger (not knowing God) should eat the Passover, and it was for this Hezekiah prayed the LORD’s pardon.

Friends, this passage is the LORD speaking for this moment, to give us understanding in this pattern, and understanding, be the priests He has prepared, to deliver His word to His people who He has pardoned (for not knowing Him).

In this chapter, the LORD tells of two Passovers, two prayers, and leads us to understand two blessings. He also speaks of these in the context of the word shuwb: the good choice of those returning to Him and this turning away the wrath self-inflicted from following evil advice.

The two passovers, from the words pecach and ‘abar, tell of those saves and destroyed by following or refusing the LORD’s message of salvation. The prayers are the words tphillah (in the title) and palah (in verse 18) in Hezekiah’s initial request for pardon. After this initial prayer, we’re told Hezekiah (the king Jehovah made strong) spoke to the Levites who taught good knowledge, and they kept the feast seven days and made confession to the LORD God of their fathers. This is the feast of unleavened bread, when all the corruption is removed from God’s house, from His pure word, and they confessed these errors.

The two blessings are from the words barak and Brakah, the first the blessing that comes from the intercessory prayer, and the second is the blessing of heaven that comes (as greater authority) when the Father hears (sees) His advice followed.

2 Chronicles 30
1 And Hezekiah [the king God strengthened] sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim [those upon who the second blessing has come] and Manasseh [those who have forgotten God], that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem [where His presence is manifested above the mercy seat], to keep the passover [pecach] unto the LORD God of Israel.
2 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover [pecach] in the second month.
3 For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified [had not removed what separated them from the LORD] themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem [into God presence].
4 And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.
5 So they established a decree to make proclamation [‘abar – the good advice, from which comes the krisis the LORD speaks of in John 3:19, the decision that saves, or condemns those who choose darkness when the light has come] throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan [where the calves were set in God’s place defiling the holy place and causing desolation – names meaning the well of seven {perfection} and {good} judgment], that they should come to keep the passover [pecach] unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written.
6 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, “You children of Israel, turn again [shuwb] unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return [shuwb] to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria [the communists among us to destroy our culture and nation].
7 And be not you like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as you see.
8 Now be you not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away [shuwb] from you.
9 For if you turn again [shuwb] unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead [misled] them captive, so that they shall come again [shuwb] into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face [paniym – presence] from you, if you return [shuwb] unto him.”
10 So the posts passed [‘abar – the salvation message in these posts] from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.
11 Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.
12 Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.
13 And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.
14 And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron [the waters of darkness – the ignorance taught and put in place of God’s truth].
15 Then they killed the passover [pecach] on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.
16 And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites.
17 For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers [pecach] for everyone that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the LORD.
18 For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover [pecach] otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed [palal – intercession] for them, saying, “The good LORD pardon every one
19 That prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.”
20 And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
21 And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem [yara’ shalam] kept the feast of unleavened bread [removed the corruption from the word of God] seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD.
22 And Hezekiah spoke comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the LORD: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings [shelem – the peace that comes from {yara’ – flows as waters from} the mouth of God], and making confession to the LORD God of their fathers.
23 And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept other seven days with gladness.
24 For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.
25 And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.
26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.
27 Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed [barak] the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer [tphillah] came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.

Friends, as we know, David, through the mispronunciation of the name Ephraimite (living in Bethlehem Judah), has always been said to be from the tribe of Judah. As we’ve seen in many previous studies, he (David) is, in fact, a son of Ephraim and thereby the son of Joseph, who is the first king God chose, and thereby the origin of what became known as the Davidic king line of Judah.

As we’ve seen, this understanding is why, in Genesis 49, when Jacob gathers his sons to tell them of what shall befall them in these last days, he speaks of the king line staying in Judah until Shiloh comes. He (Jacob) then says this is the blessing that passes back to Joseph, from where comes the Shepherd and the Stone. It is in this passage we see the result of the blessing, the Brakah that comes from the barak, God’s authority to lead His people. We are told, the Brakah prevails above all before him, and will be upon his [the one separated] head as a crown.

The following is the post from 11 November 2019 (with adding today the words barak and Brakah where they appear as mentioned above):

You shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God.

Continuing: the title is from Isaiah 61:6 and is referring us to Isaiah 56:6 where the word sharath, rendered “Minsters” above, is translated “serve.” There is speaking of the strangers and eunuchs who have joined themselves to the LORD, to “serve” Him. Isaiah only uses the word cariyc, translated “eunuchs,” one other time, Isaiah 37:7, where the LORD tells Hezekiah the fate of his sons is, “they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” As we know, these sons are kings of Judah in the Davidic line, and the word cariyc tells us they have been castrated, without the ability (power) to reproduce.

Ending the king line in this way is the pattern of the Christ line continuing through the seed of the woman. We first see this spoken of in Genesis 3:15 as the LORD speaks to the serpent (men whose advice, teaching, is exalted above God’s) and tells him of his fate under the heal of the seed of the woman.

Friends, I tell you plainly, this is an allegory, worded to depict the rise, fall, and rising again of God’s people. The man represents those who received God’s word, His advice and teaching above all others. Christ, the Spirit of God formed in man, is the tree of life, whose fruit is the understanding that flow through only Him to us, and whose leaves nourish and sustain the garden of Eden [the area, by this, protected and made pleasant]. This produce, of the tree, comes without any human effort, only needing water and light, meaning the word that flows from God and understanding that comes by His Spirit. The woman is the church, the assembly of God’s people, who are fed by the other trees in the garden, with leaders fed by the same water and light, but not made to bring the fruit the tree of life brings. The serpent is the first to put His advice (teaching) in place of God’s, and his preaching to the women, the assembly, and them following the serpent’s leading is the deception, the first replacement of God with idols men created. The result is the millennia that have followed, through which man has toiled and strived with himself (wrestled with God) trying the find his way back into Eden. There is only one way, it is back to the Father, which only comes through following the son the LORD has sent.

Friends, the end we see, the evidence in our time, is man’s standard of good and evil is ever-changing, a molten image formed by the evil of the day, which, by violence against the truth, forces its way into places of power, ever determining and redetermining their standard.

Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die:
5 For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where are you?
10 And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life:
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because you have hearkened unto the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return.
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

The way back to Eden is well known, as the LORD tells us in John 14:6, it is back to the point from where we departed. We, God’s people, left through the gate of Eden and entered the gates of hell, into death, as the LORD warned we would. As we see, this came by the subtlety of men lifting themselves into God’s place, exalting themselves, their teaching, above His, and causing, leading, the denial of Him at His appearing and kingdom.

John 14
6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.
7 If you had known me, you should have known my Father also: and from henceforth you know him, and have seen him.

The word “fruit,” appearing in Genesis 3 above, is the Hebrew word priy, meaning a bough, as what bears the fruit. The word is one time, in the context of the fall and rising again, rendered as “reward.” It comes in Psalms 58:11 in telling of our reward, the Fruit Bearer who returns for the righteous.

Psalms 58
1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do you judge uprightly, O you sons of men?
2 Yea, in heart you work wickedness; you weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stops her ear;
5 Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.
7 Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bends his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
8 As a snail which melts, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the [fire of the burning] thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 So that a man shall say, Truly there is a reward [priy – a fruit bearer] for the righteous: truly he is a God that judges in the earth.

The Hebrew word priy is from the root word parah, also meaning to bear fruit. It’s the word twice rendered “fruitful,” in Genesis 49:22, when telling of Joseph, the one separated from his brethren. There we are told it is from this fruitfulness, the strength returns, and “from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.” As we know, the chapter is Jacob telling his sons of that which shall befall them “in the last days.” Their names are used to tell of the fall, the time in it, and the recovery.

Genesis 49
1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, you sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4 Unstable [pachaz – ebullition] as water [this tells of the advice of the serpent, as one of God’s children, with unbridled license, recklessly reinterpreting His word], you shall not excel; because you went up to your father’s bed [went into the women – God’s people who have His words]; then defiled you it: he went up to my couch [took God’s place].
5 Simeon and Levi are brethren [names meaning, those hearing and joining this teaching that replaced God’s]; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
6 O my soul, come not you into their secret [their hidden counsel]; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not you united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall [by this they brought death on all man, and removed the protection found in the garden].
7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel [speaking of the continual scattering of God’s people into many sects].
8 Judah [the leaders God choses], you are he whom your brethren shall praise: your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, you are gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet [speaking of the Davidic king line], until Shiloh come [meaning peace and tranquility – the one {Joseph’s seed – the one separated} from who it will again flow – see Ezekiel 21:27 below and the overturning]; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine [this speaking the lowly {Zechariah 9:9}, God’s elect remnant, outside the established sects, bound until Shiloh comes, when they are loosed]; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13 Zebulun [the lowly raised up at the LORD’s coming] shall dwell at the haven of the sea [safe from the masses]; and he shall be for a haven of ships [and saving any who come to the LORD through them]; and his border shall be unto Zidon [they will be the end of those who’ve hunted souls].
14 Issachar [through him will come the reward – the fruitful bough] is a strong ass [the LORD’s people, now become His goodly horse in the battle – Zechariah 10:3] couching down between two burdens:
15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
16 Dan [the judge – speaking of strength returned and the righteous judgment of the world begins] shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way [as a serpent raised as a standard on a pole {nec}], an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels [this is the heel bruised in the judgment, meaning the serpents among the people, are rendered without effect], so that his rider shall fall backward [so the body of Christ will return to the place from which she fell – see, in Isaiah 28:13 below, what causes them to fall backward].
18 I have waited for your salvation, O LORD.
19 Gad [the LORD’s army, overcome until their return to Him], a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20 Out of Asher [happy] his bread shall be fat [happiness returns when the word of God prospers], and he shall yield royal dainties [ma’adan – speaking of the royal line again raised up – referring us to its use in Proverbs 29:17, telling us this is when rest returns, when we, by correction, give the Father “delight”].
21 Naphtali [by this wrestling – unknowingly with the LORD] is a hind let loose: he gives goodly words [our tongue {the word of God} is loosed and we teach it as received directly from Him].
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough [[parah ben – fruitful son]], even a fruitful bough [[parah ben – fruitful son]] by a well [a tree of life by these waters of God]; whose branches run over the wall [the wall of lies men have created and teach]:
23 The archers [ba’al – the gods of this world whose teaching has blinded all form seeing the Father, in the son, the seed of the women who brings forth the man child – see Revelation 12:17 below] have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel:)
25 Even by the God of your father, who shall help you; and by the Almighty, who shall bless [[barak]] you with blessings [[Brakah]] of heaven above, blessings [[Brakah]] of the deep that lies under [the deep meaning that lies below the surface], blessings [[Brakah]] of the breasts, and of the womb [[seed, the son]]:
26 The blessings [[Brakah]] of your father have prevailed above the blessings [[Brakah]] of my progenitors [all those who have come before us, and were only blessed with part of what is perfected in our return to the LORD] unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
27 Benjamin [the right hand of God’s power] shall ravin as a wolf [shall tear in pieces the wolf that has scattered the one flock]: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. [These last words are referring us to Maher-shalal-hash-baz, the son spoken of in beginning Isaiah 8, his name meaning he hastes to the spoil and is quick to the prey. He is the son foretold as coming by the virgin, later called Immanuel, as the advice, teaching, of the LORD comes, when men have formed a confederacy listening to the dead gods of the world.]

Ezekiel 21
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 entered into their privy [secrets] 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 have exalted themselves, their words above God’s], and to Judah in Jerusalem the defensed.
21 For the king of Babylon [words of 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.
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 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 comes 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 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.

Zechariah 9
7 And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remains, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
8 And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passes by, and because of him that returns: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes unto you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, by the blood of your covenant I have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
12 Turn you to the strong hold, you prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto you;
13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece [those still wallowing in the mire they’ve stirred], and made you as the sword of a mighty man.
14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the LORD God shall blow the trumpet [call His army to assemble as one horse He rides], and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
15 The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.
16 And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.
17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

Zechariah 10
1 Ask you of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats [leading the flock astray]: for the LORD of hosts has visited his flock the house of Judah, and has made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
4 Out of him came forth the corner [they turn], out of him the nail [they trust], out of him the battle bow [the elect remnant], out of him every oppressor [governor] together.
5 And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.
6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.
7 And they of Ephraim [the seed of Joseph – God’s people in this latter day] shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.

Isaiah 28
1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards [blinded and stupefied by the creations of your own mind] of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the LORD has a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer [impatient, unable to wait for the LORD, they eat the fruit before its time]; which when he that looks upon it sees, while it is yet in his hand he eats it up.
5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sits in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus says the LORD God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
22 Now therefore be you not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the LORD God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
23 Give you ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
24 Does the plowman plow all day to sow? does he open and break the clods of his ground?
25 When he has made plain the face thereof, does he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?
26 For his God does instruct him to discretion, and does teach him.
27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
29 This also comes forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

Proverbs 29
1 He, that being often reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked bears rule, the people mourn.
3 Whoso loves wisdom rejoices his father: but he that keeps company with harlots [those unfaithful to God] spends his substance.
4 The king by judgment establishes the land: but he that receives gifts overthrows it.
5 A man that flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.
6 In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous does sing and rejoice.
7 The righteous considers the cause of the poor: but the wicked regards not to know it.
8 Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath.
9 If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest.
10 The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.
11 A fool utters all his mind: but a wise man keeps it in till afterward.
12 If a ruler hearkens to lies, all his servants are wicked.
13 The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the LORD lightens both their eyes.
14 The king that faithfully judges the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.
15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame.
16 When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases: but the righteous shall see their fall.
17 Correct your son, and he shall give you rest; yea, he shall give delight [ma’adan] unto your soul.
18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he.
19 A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.
20 See you a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
21 He that delicately brings up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.
22 An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression.
23 A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.
24 Whoso is partner with a thief hates his own soul: he hears cursing, and bewrays it not.
25 The fear of man brings a snare: but whoso puts his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
26 Many seek the ruler’s favor; but every man’s judgment comes from the LORD.
27 An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.

Revelation 12
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Psalms 127
1 Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he gives his beloved sleep.
3 Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Psalms 100
1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all you lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know you that the LORD he is God: it is he that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.