American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; {Or, even}and the {Or, angel}messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.
And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter days.
Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob;And hearken unto Israel your father.
Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the {Or, first-fruits}beginning of my strength;The pre-eminence of dignity, and the pre-eminence of power.
Boiling over as water, {Or, have not thou}thou shalt not have the pre-eminence;Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed;Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
Simeon and Levi are brethren;Weapons of violence are their {Or, compacts}swords.
O my soul, come not thou into their {Or, secret}council;Unto their assembly, my glory, be not thou united;For in their anger they slew {Or, men}a man,And in their self-will they hocked {Or, oxen}an ox.
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.
Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise:Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies;Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee.
Judah is a lion's whelp;From the prey, my son, thou art gone up:He stooped down, he couched as a lion,And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,Nor {Or, a lawgiver}the ruler's staff from between his feet, {Or, Til he come to Shiloh, having the obedience of the peoples Or, according to Syriac, Til he come whose it is &c.}Until Shiloh come:And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.
Binding his foal unto the vine,And his ass's colt unto the choice vine;He hath washed his garments in wine,And his vesture in the blood of grapes:
His eyes shall be red with wine,And his teeth white with milk.
Zebulun shall dwell at the {Hebrew: beach.}haven of the sea;And he shall be for a {Hebrew: beach.}haven of ships;And his border shall be {Or, by}upon Sidon.
Issachar is a strong ass,Couching down between the sheepfolds:
And he saw {Or, rest}a resting-place that it was good,And the land that it was pleasant;And he bowed his shoulder to bear,And became a servant under taskwork.
Dan shall judge his people,As one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent in the way,An {Or, horned snake}adder in the path,That biteth the horse's heels,So that his rider falleth backward.
I have waited for thy salvation, O Jehovah.
Gad, {Hebrew: gedud, a marauding band.}a troop {Hebrew: gad, to press.}shall press upon him;But he shall press upon their heel.
Out of Asher his bread shall be fat,And he shall yield royal dainties.
Naphtali is a hind let loose:He giveth goodly words.
Joseph is {Hebrew: the son of a fruitful tree.}a fruitful bough,A fruitful bough by a fountain;His {Hebrew: daughters.}branches run over the wall.
The archers have sorely grieved him,And shot at him, and persecuted him:
But his bow abode in strength,And the arms of his hands were made {Or, active}strong,By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob( {Or, From hence from the shepherd Or, as otherwise read, By the name of the shepherd}From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),
Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee,And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee,With blessings of heaven above,Blessings of the deep that coucheth beneath,Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.
The blessings of thy fatherHave prevailed above the blessings of my progenitorsUnto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills:They shall be on the head of Joseph,And on the crown of the head of him {Or, that is prince among}that was separate from his brethren.
Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth:In the morning she shall devour the prey,And at even he shall divide the spoil.
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place.
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah—
the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.
And when Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.
And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. And {Or, on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all &c.?}for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for thee, and for all thy father's house?
Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all.
And it came to pass, that thy choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.
Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea;And his chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.
Hear us, my lord; thou art a prince of God among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
And it came to pass, that thy choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.
but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the {Hebrew: land of desire.}pleasant land desolate.
And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah.
And {Or, he shall be of quick understanding}his {Hebrew: scent.}delight shall be in the fear of Jehovah; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears;
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the {Or, land}earth; and he shall smite the {Or, land}earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.
And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting-place shall be {Hebrew: glory.}glorious.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord {Or, will again the second time recover with his hand}will set his hand again the second time to {Or, purchase See Exodus 15:16}recover the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the {Or, coast-lands}islands of the sea.
And he will set up an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and they that vex {Or, in Judah}Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
And they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines on the west; together shall they despoil the children of the east: they shall put forth their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
And Jehovah will {Hebrew: devote.}utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dryshod.
And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria; like as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
and I will shake all nations; and {Or, the things desired (Hebrew: desire) of all nations shall come}the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God: and whosoever loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
Hereby we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do his commandments.
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith.
And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not {Greek: in.}with the water only, but {Greek: in.}with the water and {Greek: in.}with the blood.
And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth.
For there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one.
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for the witness of God is this, that he hath borne witness concerning his Son.
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning his Son.
And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life.
These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God.
And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us:
and if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him.
If any man see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, {Or, he shall ask and shall give him life, even to them &c.}he shall ask, and God will give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is {Or, sin}a sin unto death: not concerning this do I say that he should make request.
All unrighteousness is sin: and there is {Or, sin}a sin not unto death.
We know that whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not; but he that was begotten of God keepeth {Some ancient authorities read him.}himself, and the evil one toucheth him not.
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one.
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
My little children, guard yourselves from idols.
In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes as nothing?
Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith Jehovah, and work: for I am with you, saith Jehovah of hosts,
{Or, Remember the word &c.}according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, and my Spirit {Or. abideth}abode among you: fear ye not.
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
and I will shake all nations; and {Or, the things desired (Hebrew: desire) of all nations shall come}the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts.
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts.
The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith Jehovah of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts.
In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any food, shall it become holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
Then answered Haggai and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith Jehovah; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
And now, I pray you, consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of Jehovah.
{Hebrew: since those days were.}Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty.
I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith Jehovah.
Consider, I pray you, from this day and backward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of Jehovah's temple was laid, consider it.
Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, the vine, and the fig-tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive-tree have not brought forth; from this day will I bless you.
And the word of Jehovah came the second time unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,
Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;
and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.
In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith Jehovah, and will make thee as a signet; for I have chosen thee, saith Jehovah of hosts.
whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, {Haggai 2:6.}Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.
and I will shake all nations; and {Or, the things desired (Hebrew: desire) of all nations shall come}the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts.
And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God {Or, was brooding upon}moved upon the face of the waters.
Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, {Greek: Magi. Compare Esther 1:13; Daniel 2:12; Acts 13:6, 8.}Wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
{Or, Where is the King of the Jews that is born?}Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to {The Greek word denotes an act of reverence whether paid to a creature (see chapter 4:9; 18:26), or to the Creator (see chapter 4:10)}worship him.
And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written through the prophet,
{Micah 5:2.}And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah,Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah:For out of thee shall come forth a governor,Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel.
Then Herod privily called the {Greek: Magi. Compare Esther 1:13; Daniel 2:12; Acts 13:6, 8.}Wise-men, and learned of them exactly {Or, the time of the star that appeared}what time the star appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search out exactly concerning the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word, that I also may come and {The Greek word denotes an act of reverence whether paid to a creature (see chapter 4:9; 18:26), or to the Creator (see chapter 4:10)}worship him.
And they, having heard the king, went their way; and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him; and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
Now when they were departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I tell thee: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
And he arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt;
and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, {Hosea 11:1.}Out of Egypt did I call my son.
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the {Greek: Magi. Compare Esther 1.13; Daniel 2.12; Acts 13.6, 8.}Wise-men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had exactly learned of the {Greek: Magi. Compare Esther 1.13; Daniel 2.12; Acts 13.6, 8.}Wise-men.
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
{Jeremiah 31:15.}A voice was heard in Ramah,Weeping and great mourning,Rachel weeping for her children;And she would not be comforted, because they are not.
But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead that sought the young child's life.
And he arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judæa in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither; and being warned of God in a dream, he withdrew into the parts of Galilee,
and came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, {Isaiah 11.1 in the Hebrew?}that he should be called a Nazarene.
Now when Joab saw that {Hebrew: the face of the battle was against.}the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians:
The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, {Or, And years that are numbered are laid up &c.}Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.
For every beast of the forest is mine,And the cattle {Or, upon the mountains where thousands are}upon a thousand hills.
Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every {Or, encumbrance}weight, and the sin which {Or, doth closely cling to us Or, is admired of many}doth so easily beset us, and let us run with {Or, stedfastness}patience the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus the {Or, captain}author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against {Many ancient authorities read themselves. Compare Numbers 16:38.}himself, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls.
Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin:
and ye have forgotten the exhortation which reasoneth with you as with sons, {Proverbs 3:11 f.}My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord,Nor faint when thou art reproved of him;
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
{Or, Endure unto chastening}It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not?
But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of {Or, our spirits}spirits, and live?
For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.
All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness.
Wherefore {Greek: make straight.}lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees;
and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not {Or, put out of joint}turned out of the way, but rather be healed.
Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord:
looking carefully {Or, whether}lest there be any man that {Or, falleth back from}falleth short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby the many be defiled;
{Or, whether}lest there be any fornication, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright.
For ye know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was {Or, rejected (for he found no place of repentance), &c. Or, rejected; for…of repentance &c. Compare chapter 6:6; 2 Esdr. 9.11; Wisd. 12.10.}rejected; for he found no place for a change of mind in his father, though he sought it diligently with tears.
For ye are not come unto {Or, a palpable and kindled fire}a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them;
for they could not endure that which was enjoined, {Exodus 19:12 f.}If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned;
and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, {Deuteronomy 9:19.}I exceedingly fear and quake:
but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, {Or, and to innumerable hosts, the general assembly of angels, and the church &c.}and to {Greek: myriads of angels.}innumerable hosts of angels,
to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better {Or, than Abel}than that of Abel.
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape who turn away from him {Or, that is from heaven}that warneth from heaven:
whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, {Haggai 2:6.}Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.
Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have {Or, thankfulness Compare 1 Corinthians 10:30.}grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with {Or, godly fear Compare chapter 5:7.}reverence and awe:
for our God is a consuming fire.
And a Redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah.
And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah: my Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee.
For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Jehovah will arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
And nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be {Hebrew: nursed upon the side.}carried in the arms.
Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, the wealth of the nations shall come unto thee.
The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the {Or, young camels}dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall {Hebrew: bring good tidings of the praises.}proclaim the praises of Jehovah.
All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee; they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar; and I will {Or, beautify}glorify {Or, my beautiful house}the house of my glory.