求你叱喝芦苇中的野兽和群公牛，并列邦中的牛犊。把银块踹在脚下；神已经赶散好争战的列邦。

求你斥责芦苇中的野兽和公牛群，并万民中的牛犊。直到他们带着银块来朝贡；上帝已经赶散好战的万民。

求你斥责芦苇中的野兽和公牛群，并万民中的牛犊。直到他们带着银块来朝贡；神已经赶散好战的万民。

求你斥责那芦苇中的野兽，斥责成群的公牛和列邦的牛犊，使他们俯首献上贡银。求你驱散好战的列邦。

求你斥责芦苇中的野兽、成群的公牛和万民中的牛犊，并且把贪爱银块的人践踏在脚下；求你赶散那些喜爱战争的民族。

求你斥责芦苇中的野兽，斥责壮牛群以及万民中的牛犊；把贪爱银块的人践踏在脚下，驱散那喜好战斗的民众。

求你叱喝蘆葦中的野獸和羣公牛，並列邦中的牛犢。把銀塊踹在腳下；神已經趕散好爭戰的列邦。

求你斥責蘆葦中的野獸和公牛羣，並萬民中的牛犢。直到他們帶着銀塊來朝貢；上帝已經趕散好戰的萬民。

求你斥責蘆葦中的野獸和公牛羣，並萬民中的牛犢。直到他們帶着銀塊來朝貢；神已經趕散好戰的萬民。

求你斥責那蘆葦中的野獸，斥責成群的公牛和列邦的牛犢，使他們俯首獻上貢銀。求你驅散好戰的列邦。

求你斥責蘆葦中的野獸、成群的公牛和萬民中的牛犢，並且把貪愛銀塊的人踐踏在腳下；求你趕散那些喜愛戰爭的民族。

求你叱責蘆荻中的野獸、雄壯的公牛羣、別族之民的領主；將貪婪銀子的踹於腳下；趕散喜好接戰的別族之民。

求你斥責蘆葦中的野獸，斥責壯牛群以及萬民中的牛犢；把貪愛銀塊的人踐踏在腳下，驅散那喜好戰鬥的民眾。

其叱葦中之獸、牡牛之羣、民眾之犢、踐其銀於足下、驅散好鬥之民兮、

好鬥之人、如牛如犢、如葦間之獸、爾制伏之、爾離散之、俾輸金以歸附兮。

願主叱喝葦叢之野獸、與群牡牛、及似牛犢之異邦人、使之皆攜銀叩伏、喜爭鬥之列國、天主均已擊散、

以爾駐蹕。於我瑟琳。萬王賓貢。莫敢不勤。

Rebuke the beast among the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations. Humbled, may the beast bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.

Give a strong warning to Egypt, that beast among the tall grass. It is like a herd of bulls among the calves. May that beast bow down before you with gifts of silver. Scatter the nations who like to make war.

Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war.

Rebuke these enemy nations— these wild animals lurking in the reeds, this herd of bulls among the weaker calves. Make them bring bars of silver in humble tribute. Scatter the nations that delight in war.

Rebuke the beast in the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample underfoot those with bars of silver. Scatter the peoples who take pleasure in war.

Rebuke the animals in the reeds, The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples, Trampling the pieces of silver; He has scattered the peoples who delight in war.

Rebuke the beasts of the reeds, The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples, Till everyone submits himself with pieces of silver. Scatter the peoples who delight in war.

Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds, The multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples, Trampling under foot the pieces of silver: He hath scattered the peoples that delight in war.

Rebuke the beast in the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample underfoot those with bars of silver. Scatter the peoples who take pleasure in war.

Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people,[ till every one] submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people[ that] delight in war.

Sound your battle cry against the wild beast of the reeds, and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls! They humble themselves and offer gold and silver as tribute. God scatters the nations that like to do battle.

Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples. Being humbled, may it bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations that delight in war.

Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. (niv)

Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (niv)

Speak to him and say:‘ This is what the Sovereign Lord says:“‘ I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great monster lying among your streams. You say,“ The Nile belongs to me; I made it for myself.” (niv)

When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord.He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.They told him,“ This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them.It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah,Isaiah said to them,“ Tell your master,‘ This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard— those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word:“ Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says,‘ Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them— the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord:“ Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.“ It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are the only God.”Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah:“ This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:“ Virgin Daughter Zion despises and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord. And you have said,‘ With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers. I have reached its remotest heights, the finest of its forests.I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.’“ Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.“ But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me.Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.“ This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:“ This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.“ Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:“ He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,” declares the Lord.“ I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty- five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning— there were all the dead bodies!So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king. (niv)

I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war. (niv)

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? (niv)

In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king.David thought,“ I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father. When David’s men came to the land of the Ammonites,the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord,“ Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?”So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away.When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said,“ Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.”When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maakah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men.The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country.Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans.He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites.Joab said,“ If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you.Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.”Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him.When the Ammonites realized that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city. So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped.Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him.But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there.When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore. (niv)

After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat.Some people came and told Jehoshaphat,“ A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar”( that is, En Gedi).Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyardand said:“ Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying,‘ If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’“ But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.He said:“ Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you:‘ Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel.You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord.Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said,“ Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:“ Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value— more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berakah to this day.Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies.They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets.The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty- five years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty- five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.He followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.The high places, however, were not removed, and the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their ancestors.The other events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the annals of Jehu son of Hanani, which are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel.Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, whose ways were wicked.He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships. After these were built at Ezion Geber,Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying,“ Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade. (niv)

foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey me. (niv)

And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles.He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands.He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him.He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the Lord gave him rest.“ Let us build up these towns,” he said to Judah,“ and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah.Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said,“ Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.”The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled,and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the Lord and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder.They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the Lord had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there.They also attacked the camps of the herders and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem. (niv)

“ Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions, (niv)

Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. (niv)

In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines.David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at the Euphrates River.David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them.He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.From Tebah and Berothai, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer,he sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze.King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued:Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people.Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder;Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelek son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was secretary;Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests. (niv)

For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; (niv)

And the wild oxen will fall with them, the bull calves and the great bulls. Their land will be drenched with blood, and the dust will be soaked with fat. (niv)

You crushed Rahab like one of the slain; with your strong arm you scattered your enemies. (niv)

the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified.”This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:“ Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come.” (niv)