Exodus 24:14 Moses leaves Aaron & Hur in Charge as he go up to the mount.

INTERCESSION

By

Rev. Shirley J. Cunningham

The Book of Exodus Chapter 32

1. And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

A. The people were impatient

B. The people got themselves together

C. They became the self made authority.

D. They look to get Aaron to submit the them instead of them submitting to the authority that Moses left in charge.

E. Since the self appointed group did not know what happened to Moses, instead of seeking God they sought a lesser authority that they had decided to contro, Aaron.

2. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

A. Aaron allowed the people to control him and lead him into their way of thinking.

B. Aaron allow it instead of seeking God as to correct timing and the condition of Moses.

C. Now disobedience and deception has entered into their midst.

D. Aaron now being deceived and disobedient goes for the peoples possessions that God had given to them. Poverty comes in.

E. He stripped the people of the God given riches and they were very willing to help make this god made by hands.

3. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

A. Now the people follow the deception that will lead many to death.

B. Many people follow the deception of the world today and end up with nothing and in poverty.

4. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

A. Now he can follow the sight of what his own hands have made. His focus now turns to self will and self accomplishment.

B. He will worship the works of his own hands

C. No need for intercession by this bunch as they like the fleshly way.

5. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord.

A. Now to try to get the Lord to accept what (I) (self) have down.

B. I must build an alter.

C. I must declare a feast.

D. Not today though, I must be worn out from my work, Tomorrow.

6. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

A. No problem getting up this day, But how about Sunday morning for church service or during the night to pray?

B. Offerings of disobedience will not work.

C. They knew they needed peace offerings.

D. They were anxious to eat and drink

E. They rose up to play. Most of God's people are too busy playing games to really get down to serious business with him.

God sends Moses back to intercede for the people.

7. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

8. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

a. Corrupeted themselves

b. Turned aside quickly

c. Went the wrong way

d. Made a false god

e. Gave the false god credit for their deliverance from Egypt.

f. Did not recognize the true deliverer and give him glory.

9. And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

A. Stiffneked = The head has been broken, back, bent down, etc.

10. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

A. God is saying here concerning his wrath, that he will roar until there is no way out for them.

B. He offers to make a great nation for Moses.

C. That would temp most of us, but Moses had a heart for the people.

11. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

A. God was watching all the time

B. He tells Moses to leave him alone, in other words get out of the way so I may consume this sinful people.

C. Moses has the ability to stand up in the face of God and intercede for the sinful nation.

D. He has such power with God that Moses ask him why he has such hot wrath.

E. He reminds God that he has already began a work in them when he brought them forth from Egypt.

12. Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

A. Moses reminds God of what the Egyptians will say against God if he does not turn from his wrath. Moses even tells God to repent of this evil that he is thinking to do.

B. Would you have the cleanliness of heart and hands to talk to God this way? Moses did.

C. We will see later that Moses has some really good standing with God. We need to be clean in ourselves in order to come to God in some of these areas. We can come boldly before his throne, but be ready to repent when he shows the need.

D. Lack of repentance will only build you own golden calf.

E. Read on as Moses continues to remind God of a few issues.

13. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

13. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

A. If God would repent, how much more should we repent. We who are made by him and called by his name.

MOSES HAD STOOD BETWEEN GOD THE PEOPLE AND

NOW MOSES IS READY TO STAND BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND GOD.

15. And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

16. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

17. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

18. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

19. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

A. Moses now understands in a greater way the feeling that God had when the people sinned.

B. Moses now has to deal with the same emotions that he talked to God about.

C. We have to deal with these emotions as an intercessor when we pray for the people, as we feel the things that God feels and sometimes it is necessary to follow our own advice. We can call upon the Lord to save, but then we also have to walk it out with the people or situations that we have cried out to God for.

D. We don't expect God to get angry and he does not expect us to be angry in his place, just pray.

20. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

A. First he tore down the idol that they had worshiped.

B. Then he made them to drink of the work of their own hands. We reap what we sow.

Judgment starts at the top.

21. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

A. Moses addresses Aaron first with the accusation that he is the cause of the great sin.

B. He acknowledges that the people did something to cause him to allow this.

C. Moses as he is standing in the place of the intercessor starts at the source of the problem. The Leader

22. And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.

A. Don't be angry with me Moses. Aaron has good reason to fear.

B. It is because the people are so mischievous, You know Moses.

C. Many leaders are not too anxious to meet the intercessor.

23. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

A. They Said! It is always someone else that is to blame.

B. He should have said, "I was not strong enough to lead them".

C. He should have said, "I was too fearful and had not enough faith in God to believe that you were on a mission and would return.

D. He should have just repented to start with.

24. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

A. Aaron tries to insult Moses intelligence by telling him I just threw it in the fire and it just came out this way. Like it was some sort of spiritual thing. Like maybe God had been in it. No! No! No! He formed it with much time and the working of his hands.

25. And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

A. Naked here means To loosen by implying to expose. The flesh was showing. When sin comes the flesh will expose itself more and more and more. This is why we need to take care that we dress in modest apparel.

B. Aaron is blames for this. Pastors need to see that their people dress properly as well as repent from their spiritual sins. Improper dress can leave opening for the lust of the flesh. Ladies in particular need to keep their necks short (no long necked women) and their skirts below the knees in church.

C. I know that summer times the dress gets skimpy due to the heat, but still it can be kept decent.

Judgment comes to the people

26. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

A. Moses gave the people an opportunity to choose the right way.

B. God will always give us opportunity to choose right, but where are the intercessors to stand in the gate and give the cry?

C. I ask you now, Will you repent of all sin and choose the right way?

27. And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.

A. God required Israel to get rid of the sinners after they chose to stand against the ways of the Lord.

28. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

A. THEY WERE OBEDIENT & lived.

B. OBEDIENCE IS very important to life.

C. DISOBEDINCE brings death.

29. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord, even every man upon his son and upon his brother that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

A. We need to be consecrated to the Lord. If you sin, you know it. Ask for immediate forgiveness. He will forgive

Judgment comes to the rest of the living.

Moses will intercede again for them.

30. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

31. And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

32. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

33. And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

34. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.

35. And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

DO NOT SPEAK AGAINST GOD'S ANOINTED OR YOU WILL NEED AN INTERCESSOR TO PLEAD YOUR CASE.

Numbers 12

1. And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

2. And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.

A. Miraim and Aaron did not like it because Moses had married the Ethiopian woman and they thought that they had the right to complain about it.

B. They set themselves up equal with Moses, but God had not. They were not submissive to Moses in this issue.

C. They thought that they could hear God just as good as Moses, but they needed to be put in their proper place.

3. (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

A. Moses stood in the face of God on one occasion, but he is called meek.

B. He stands in God's power and glory, but he is meek.

C. There was no other so meek as he was.

D. Meek does not mean weak.

4. And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.

A. God called them apart to deal with them.

B. It was not the business of the whole congregation.

5. And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.

6. And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

7. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

8. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

A. It was a judgment that came from God.

B. It was swift and severe.

9. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed.

10. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

A. Leprousy is a symbol of sin.

B. It is sin to murmur and complain.

C. It is sin to be disobedient to authority.

D. It is the authority that will need to intercede for you.

11. And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

A. Once again Moses is found to be an intercessor for his sister Miraim.

THE INTERCESSION FOR HEALING

12. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.

13. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.

14. And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

A. There is a reason for the delay of healing for some sicknesses.

B. It may be for the persons sin and they need to repent.

C. It may be a time of growing in the Lord and faith.

D. It may be revealed at a later time.

15. And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.

A. It caused all of the people to be delayed.

B. What we do is important as our sin can cause delay.

C. If we are called to intercede and do not obey, it can be called disobedience and thus our sin cause delay.

16. And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

The murmuring congregation.

The Book of Numbers Chapter 14

1. And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

2. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

3. And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

4. And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

A. We don't like our leader.

B. Let's find someone else

C. Someone that will do it our way. (sounds like a repeat doesn't it?)

5. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

A. Now Moses and Aaron need an intercessor.

B. Even the intercessor needs an intercessor.

6. And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:

JOSHUA & CALEB - THE INTERCESSORS

DELIVERENCE FOR THE LAND

7. And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.

8. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

9. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.

10. But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

GOD STILL ADDRESSES MOSES WITH THE PROBLEM

11. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?

MOSES INTERCEDES AGAIN

DELIVERANCE FOR THE PEOPLE

12. I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

A. God's desire is to again punish the people.

1. With a pestilence

2. Disinherit them

3. Give Moses a greater and mightier than they are.

13. And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)

15. And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou Lord art among this people, that thou Lord art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

A. Moses reminds God that the Egyptians will hear of it.

B. They will tell it to the land.

C. Moses reminds God of his good attributes.

1. They have heard that thou Lord art among this people.

2. That you are seen face to face.

3. That you stand over them - a cloud by day, a fire by night.

15. Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,

16. Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.

A. They will say you couldn't bring this people into the land.

B. They will accuse you of killing the people in the wilderness.

C. This is not the picture that you need to have painted Lord!

17. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,

18. The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

19. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

20. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word:

21. But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.

22. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

23. Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

24. But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

25. (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

26. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

27. How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

28. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

29. Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me.

30. Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

31. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.

32. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.

33. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

34. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

35. I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

36. And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,

37. Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord.

38. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.

39. And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.

40. And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned.

41. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper.

42. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.

43. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you.

44. But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.

45. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

The Book of Isaiah Chapter 7

THE BIRTH OF THE GREATEST INTERCESSOR

Rom 8:34. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

15. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

16. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

The Book of I Kings Chapter 13

A TRUE PROPHET AND THE LYING PROPHET

1. And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

2. And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

3. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

4. And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him and his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

5. The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

6. And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

7. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

8. And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

9. For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.

10. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

11. Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.

12. And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.

13. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,

14. And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.

15. Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.

16. And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:

17. For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.

18. He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.

19. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

20. And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:

21. And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,

22. But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

23. And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.

24. And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.

25. And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

26. And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.

27. And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.

28. And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.

29. And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.

30. And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

31. And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:

32. For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

33. After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.

34. And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.

1 Chronicles 21

1. And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

2. And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.

3. And Joab answered, The Lord make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?

4. Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.

5. And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.

6. But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's word was abominable to Joab.

7. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

8. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

9. And the Lord spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,

10. Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

11. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee

12. Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

13. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

14. So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

15. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

16. And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

17. And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.

18. Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

19. And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the Lord.

20. And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.

21. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

22. Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the Lord: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

23. And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.

24. And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.

25. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.

26. And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.

27. And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

28. At that time when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

29. For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.

30. But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

hronicles 30

1. And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover 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 in the second month.

3. For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.

4. And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.

5. So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover 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, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

7. And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

8. Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

9. For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

10. So the posts passed 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.

15. Then they killed the passover 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 for every one 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 otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one

19. That prepareth 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 kept the feast of unleavened bread 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 spake 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, 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.

25. 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.

ob 42

1. Then Job answered the Lord, and said,

2. I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.

3. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

4. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

5. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

6. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

7. And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.

8. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.

9. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted Job.

10. And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

11. Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

12. So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.

13. He had also seven sons and three daughters.

14. And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.

15. And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

16. After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.

17. So Job died, being old and full of days.

Ezekiel 33

1. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2. Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:

3. If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

4. Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

5. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

6. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

7. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

8. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

9. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

10. Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

11. Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

12. Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.

13. When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

14. Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;

15. If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

16. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

17. Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

18. When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.

19. But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.

20. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

21. And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.

22. Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.

23. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

24. Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.

25. Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

26. Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land?

27. Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

28. For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.

29. Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.

30. Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.

31. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

32. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.

33. And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

23. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.