And you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.
The LORD begins today in Ezekiel 24 where He speaks of when he purges the scum of His people, which is the confusion, disordered words, come as the king of Babylon: now when ignorance and mass delusion rule the world. It is when His word isn’t heard, when His lips (mouth) are covered, and instead, the words of the false prophets are, which the title verse (22) describes as eating “the bread of men.”
Deuteronomy 8
2 And you shall remember all the way [the old path] which the LORD your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.
3 And he humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna [the bread of heaven, unknown to be the words of God’s mouth], which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live.
The words above rendered “cover your lips” are the Hebrew words ‘atah, meaning “to wrap, i.e. cover, veil, cloth, or roll;” and sapham, meaning “from 8193 [saphah, “the lip (as a natural boundary)”]; the beard (as a lip-piece).”
The word saphah first appears in Genesis 11, telling of the “language” of the earth, which was confounded at the tower of Babel (Babylon). As we know, the mouths (lips and language as the boundary) of men, when confused, are the gates of hell, which are opened by words correctly ordered (corrected by/into the LORD’s righteousness), and from hell, heaven is entered.
Psalms 118
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
20 This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
21 I will praise you: for you have heard me, and are become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I beseech you, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech you, send now prosperity.
In the story (the parable and pattern) of Babel, we’re first told it (confusion) is the habitation Nimrod (the rebellion against God), the son of Cush (black – covered in darkness: ignorance), the son of Ham (hot – causing the fires in the earth), the son of Noah (rest – which came after the flood and all the languages of the earth was one: God’s truth reigned).
Genesis 11
1 And the whole earth was of one language [saphah], and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language [sapham]; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language [sapham], that they may not understand one another’s speech [sapham].
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel [Babylon – confusion]; because the LORD did there confound the language [saphah] of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
The deep meaning of the above is found in the name Shinar, also said to be a city, with Babel, of the beginning of Nimrod’s (rebel) kingdom.
Genesis 10
8 And Cush begat Nimrod [and ignorance brought forth rebellion]: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter [of souls] before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel [confusion], and Erech [long reaching – unto this time of the spiritual death of all humanity], and Accad [the subtlety of Satan], and Calneh [and their now stronghold rising into the heavens], in the land of Shinar [a country of two rivers, one of good advice from the mouth of God and one of evil misleading opposing Him and His plan to create man in His image and likeness].
As discussed in many previous posts, Daniel, in Daniel 1:2, tells us Shinar is the place where to the king God will raise up and all the vessels (treasures) of the house of were carried away.
Daniel 1
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim [who Jehovah raises up] king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon [the lies of the false prophets that caused the confusion and desolation of God’s people, and now rule over all the world, even] unto Jerusalem [against the peace of God’s people, who are taught and founded upon the teaching that flows from His mouth as a river of life-giving waters], and besieged it.
2 And the LORD gave Jehoiakim [the king Jehovah will raise up] king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
We have also seen this carrying away to Shinar described by Zechariah, in Zachariah 5:11, where it’s said to be readied (kuwn – “established”), after it’s “set” there upon a base. As we know, the word rendered “set” is the Hebrew “nuwach,” meaning “to rest, i.e. settle down; used in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, intransitive, transitive and causative (to dwell, stay, let fall, place, let alone, withdraw, give comfort, etc.).”
We know this (the word nuwach) is telling of the silencing of God’s word, which suspends His work: the moving of His Spirit upon the waters. We know this from the only other time Zechariah uses the word, in Zechariah 6:8, there rendered “quited,” in telling of Spirit not moving in the land of the north (tspahown – the darkness, ignorance, in which the treasures of heaven become hidden).
The following, ending with Isaiah 4, are portions from the post of 27 August 2020:
This final carrying away is what Zachariah sees and records in Zechariah 5. There it’s the roll, the book, the word of God, that flies away. We’re told of the curse that enters the house of those who swear falsely in the LORD’s name. As a result, it’s then seen as an ephah, representing justice, corrupted by an unfaithful woman. She is next seen with another woman (faithful and the unfaithful) flying away into Shinar, another name for Babylon, from the word shenath meaning sleep.
Zechariah 5
1 Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll [megillah].
2 And he said unto me, What see you? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.
3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that steals shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that swears shall be cut off as on that side according to it.
4 I will bring it forth, says the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that swears falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now your eyes, and see what is this that goes forth.
6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goes forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.
7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sit in the midst of the ephah.
8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof [the words thereof].
9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?
11 And he said unto me, To build it a house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.
The “roll” above is the same “volume” of the book, in which the LORD’s appearing is written. This is said in Psalms 40:7 and quoted in Hebrews 10:7. It’s the same roll spoken of in Ezekiel 2 & 3, which Ezekiel, the son of man, eats and becomes the words he says.
Psalms 40
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established [kuwn] my goings.
3 And he has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
4 Blessed is that man that makes the LORD his trust, and respects not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O LORD my God, are your wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto you: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire; mine ears have you opened: burnt offering and sin offering have you not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [megillah] it is written of me,
8 I delight to do your will, O my God: yea, your law is within my heart.
9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, you know.
10 I have not hid your righteousness within my heart; I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation: I have not concealed your lovingkindness and your truth from the great congregation.
11 Withhold not you your tender mercies from me, O LORD: let your lovingkindness and your truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.
16 Let all those that seek you rejoice and be glad in you: let such as love your salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.
17 But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinks upon me: you are my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
Hebrews 10
5 Wherefore when he comes into the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering you would not, but a body have you prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God.
8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do your will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified.
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, says 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 hearte 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.
32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions;
33 Partly, while you were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst you became companions of them that were so used.
34 For you had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward.
36 For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.
37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall has no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition [apoleia]; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
Ezekiel 2
1 And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon your feet, and I will speak unto you.
2 And the spirit entered into me when he spoke unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spoke unto me.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.
4 For they are impudent children and stiff-hearted. I do send you unto them; and you shall say unto them, Thus says the LORD God.
5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there has been a prophet among them.
6 And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
7 And you shall speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
8 But you, son of man, hear what I say unto you; Be not you rebellious like that rebellious house: open your mouth, and eat that I give you.
9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll [megillah] of a book was therein;
10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
Ezekiel 3
1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that you find; eat this roll [megillah], and go speak unto the house of Israel.
2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll [mgillah].
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this roll [megillah] that I give you. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get you unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
5 For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech [[saphah]] and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;
6 Not to many people of a strange speech [[saphah]] and of a hard language, whose words you can not understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have hearkened unto you.
7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto you; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
8 Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads.
9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
10 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.
11 And go, get you to them of the captivity, unto the children of your people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus says the LORD God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
12 Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.
When Zechariah 5:11 tell of the word God in Shinar (place of sleep in confusion), it says there “it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.” As we’ve discussed, “established” is the word kuwn, meaning it is there as a provision (providence), as preparation.
The word “set” is nuwach, meaning “to rest, i.e. settle down.” The deep meaning is in the one other time it appears in Zechariah, Zechariah 6:8, where it speaks of the Spirit of the LORD “quieted” in the north country.
Zechariah 6
8 Then cried he upon me, and spoke unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.
9 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
10 Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai [worldly], of Tobijah [to whom Jehovah is good {not a misleader}], and of Jedaiah [who Jehovah has known], which are come from Babylon, and come you the same day, and go into the house of Josiah [who Jehovah heals] the son of Zephaniah [by Jehovah’s hidden treasures {this word}];
11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua [Jehovah’s Salvation personified] the son of Josedech [who is Jehovah’s righteousness], the high priest;
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
14 And the crowns shall be to Helem [strength], and to Tobijah [to whom Jehovah is good {not a misleader}], and to Jedaiah [who Jehovah has known], and to Hen [favor and grace] the son of Zephaniah [by Jehovah’s hidden treasures {this word}], for a memorial [zikrown, meaning “a memento (or memorable thing, day or writing)” – the things of the house remembered and “restored”] in the temple of the LORD.
15 And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.
The word zikrown refers us to what is written in Malachi 3:16, where it is rendered “remembrance.”
Malachi 3
8 Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10 Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, says the LORD of hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for you shall be a delightsome land, says the LORD of hosts.
13 Your words have been stout against me, says the LORD. Yet you say, What have we spoken so much against you?
14 You have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
16 Then they that feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance [zikrown] was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
17 And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him.
18 Then shall you return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves him not.
The word “base,” in Zechariah 5:11, is from the one time used word mekunah, from mekownah, from makown, and all from the word kuwn (established and prepared). The word makown describes the LORD’s habitation, His dwelling place, as in Exodus 15:17.
Exodus15
1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spoke, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea.
2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his host has he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
5 The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone [[as the dregs]].
6 Your right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: your right hand, O LORD, has dashed in pieces the enemy.
7 And in the greatness of your excellency you have overthrown them that rose up against you: you sent forth your wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
8 And with the blast [ruwach] of your nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as a heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
10 You did blow with your wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
11 Who is like unto you, O LORD, among the gods? who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed [bala’] them.
13 You in your mercy have led forth the people which you have redeemed: you have guided them in your strength unto your holy habitation.
14 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
15 Then the dukes of Edom [the enemies mixed among us] shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab [whose mouths are the gates that hold the world in hell], trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.
16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of your arm they shall be as still [damam – silent – Amos 5:13 “Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.”] as a stone; till your people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which you have purchased.
17 You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, in the place [makown], O LORD, which you have made for you to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O LORD, which your hands have established [kuwn].
18 The LORD shall reign forever and ever.
19 For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.
Isaiah 4
1 And in that day seven women [Zechariah 4:10 “For who has despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.”] shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by your name, to take away our reproach.
2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remains in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:
4 When the LORD shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place [makown] of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defense.
6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
Ezekiel 24
9 Therefore thus says the LORD God; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.
10 Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.
11 Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.
12 She has wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.
13 In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged you, and you were not purged, you shall not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest [nuwach] upon you.
14 I the LORDhave spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you, saith the Lord God.
15 Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
16 Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet neither shall you mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.
17 Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of your head upon you, and put on your shoes upon your feet [prepare to go out of their, the dead’s, house], and cover not thy lips [‘atah sapham], and eat not the bread of [dead] men.
18 So I spoke unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
19 And the people said unto me, Will you not tell us what these things are to us, that you do so?
20 Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
21 Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus says the LORD God; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left shall fall by the sword [this word of God to the rebels].
22 And you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips [‘atah sapham – you shall not keep my word from being heard, my mouth will be uncovered], nor eat the bread of men [the misleading words of men shall not be taken into your minds].
23 And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet [you shall leave the houses ofthe dead]: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away [maqaq – as in Zechariah 14:12 speaking of the plague, “Their [works of the] flesh shall consume away [maqaq] while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes [the thing they say they understand] shall consume away [maqaq] in their holes [chowr], and their tongue [their defiled words with which they deceive and mislead the world] shall consume away [maqaq] in their mouth.] for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.
24 Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he has done shall you do: and when this comes, you shall know that I am the LORD God.
25 Also, you son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,
26 That he that escapes in that day shall come unto you, to cause you to hear it with your ears?
27 In that day shall your mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and you shall speak [this word of understanding], and be no more dumb: and you shall be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Micah 3
5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that puts 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 [their understanding is seen to be ignorance] over them.
7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded [as the Canaanites]: yea, they shall all cover their lips [‘atah sapham]; 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.
Psalms 71
1 In you, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.
2 Deliver me in your righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline your ear unto me, and save me.
3 Be you my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: you have given commandment to save me; for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5 For you are my hope, O LORD God: you are my trust from my youth.
6 By you have I been held up from the womb: you are he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of you.
7 I am as a wonder unto many; but you are my strong refuge.
8 Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with your honor all the day.
9 Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength fails.
10 For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,
11 Saying, God has forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.
12 O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.
13 Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered [‘atah] with reproach and dishonor that seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually, and will yet praise you more and more.
15 My mouth shall show forth your righteousness and your salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.
16 I will go in the strength of the LORD God: I will make mention of your righteousness, even of your only.
17 O God, you have taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared your wondrous works.
18 Now also when I am old and grey-headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have shown your strength unto this generation, and your power to every one that is to come.
19 Your righteousness also, O God, is very high, who have done great things: O God, who is like unto you!
20 You, which have shown me great and sore troubles, shall quicken me again, and shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.
22 I will also praise you with the psaltery, even your truth, O my God: unto you will I sing with the harp, O you Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto you; and my soul, which you have redeemed.
24 My tongue also shall talk of your righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.
