The sword [of Babylon] is ready to be polished so that it may be handled and put to use; the sword is sharpened and polished to be put in the hand of the slayer (Nebuchadnezzar).

For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.

This is what the Lord GOD says: "Remove your turban! Take off your crown! Things aren't going to remain as they used to be. What is lowly will be exalted, and what is lofty will be brought low.

Your vision is to no purpose, your use of secret arts gives a false answer, to put it on the necks of evil-doers who are wounded to death, whose day has come, in the time of the last punishment.

“Look, every prince of Israel within you has used his strength to shed blood.

Murderers are there in thee, that shed blood, and eat upon the hills, and in thee they use unhappiness.

Behold, I have smitten my hands upon thy covetousness, that thou hast used, and upon the blood which hath been shed in thee.

And her prophets have been using whitewash, seeing foolish visions and making false use of secret arts, saying, This is what the Lord has said, when the Lord has said nothing.

The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

Neither ceased she from the fornication, that she used with the Egyptians: for in her youth they lay with her, they bruised the breasts of her maidenhead, and poured their whoredom upon her.

Nevertheless, she used her whoredom ever the longer, the more; and remembered the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

All these things shall happen unto thee because of thy whoredom, which thou hast used among the Gentiles, with whose Idols thou hast defiled thyself.

Then thought I, 'No doubt, these will use their harlotry also with yonder old whore.'

and use unto the rebellious house a simile, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: To set on the pot, to set it on, and also to pour into it water,

Thou mayest mourn by thyself alone, but use no deadly lamentation. Hold on thy bonnet, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, cover not thy face, and eat no mourner's bread."

Fine linen from Egypt, woven with patterns, was used for your sail to serve as your banner; blue and purple from the coastlands of Elishah was used for your deck's awning.

Damascus also used merchandises with thee, in the best wine and white wool: because thy occupying was so great, and thy wares so many.

You used to be in Eden God's paradise! You wore precious stones for clothing: ruby, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and carbuncle. Your settings were crafted in gold, along with your engravings. On the day of your creation they had been prepared!

And the house of Israel shall no more have a stinging prickle or a wounding thorn, of any round about them who used to despise them,- So shall they know that I an The Lord Yahweh.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "I'm going to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He's going to carry off her wealth, confiscate her war implements, and use it all to pay wages for his army!

"This is what the LORD says: "I'm putting an end to that gang from Egypt, and I'm going to use King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to do it!

I'll dry up their waterways, and evil men will sell off the land. I'm going to make that land desolate, along with everything that's in it, and I'm going to use foreigners to do it. I, the LORD have spoken!'"

"When I turn the land of Egypt into a desolation, and the land is emptied of everything that used to fill it, when I strike everyone who lives there, they will learn that I am the LORD.'

Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.

They will say, "This wasteland has become like the garden of Eden, and what used to be desolate ruins are now fortified and inhabited."

Then the surviving people that live around you will learn that I, the LORD, have rebuilt these ruins and have cultivated these pastures that used to be desolate wastelands. I, the LORD, have spoken this, and I'm going to bring it about!'

The desolate cities will be filled with flocks of human beings, just like Jerusalem used to be filled with flocks of sheep during the times of the appointed festivals. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'"

Then the nations will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord who sets apart and sanctifies Israel [for holy use], when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’”

“Then the inhabitants of Israel’s cities will go out, kindle fires, and burn the weapons—the bucklers and shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them to make fires.

They will not gather wood from the countryside or cut it down from the forests, for they will use the weapons to make fires. They will take the loot from those who looted them and plunder those who plundered them.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

In that way, there were four tables on each side in front of the gate, for a total of eight tables for use in slaughtering the offerings.

There were also four tables of cut stone for the burnt offering, each 31½ inches long, 31½ inches wide, and 21 inches high. The utensils used to slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices were placed on them.

And the upper chambers were shorter; for the galleries used up more space than the lower and middle ones in the building.

And when they be ashamed of all their works, then show them the form and fashion of the temple: the coming in, the going out, all the manner and description thereof, yea all the uses and ordinances of it, that they may keep and fulfill all the fashions and customs thereof."

And He [the Lord] said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘These are the statutes and regulations for [the use of] the altar on the day that it is built, to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it.

{because} they used to serve them {before} their idols and they were for the house of Israel [like] a stumbling block of iniquity. Therefore {I swore} concerning them," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "[that] they will bear their iniquity.

Should I use them to be porters of the house, and to all the service that is done therein?

When they go out into the outer court, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall take off the garments in which they have been ministering and leave them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other clothing so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their [ceremonial] garments.

“Moreover, when you divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall [set apart and] offer an allotment (contribution) to the Lord, a holy portion of the land [to be used for sacred purposes]. The length shall be 25,000 cubits, and the width shall be 20,000 cubits. It shall be holy (set apart for sacred use) within its every area.

It will be a holy area of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to serve the Lord. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary.

An area 25,000 cubits long by 10,000 cubits wide is to be set aside for use by the Levite servants of the Temple, 20 parcels for their residential properties.

"You're to use an honest scale, an honest dry measure, and an honest liquid measure!

All kinds of trees providing food will grow along both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fresh fruit because the water comes from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for medicine.”

This is what the Lord God says: “This is the border you will use to divide the land as an inheritance for the 12 tribes of Israel. Joseph will receive two shares.

It is to be for use by priests from the descendants of Zadok, who have observed the things with which I charged them and who did not wander astray when the Israelis went astray, just as the descendants of Levi wandered astray.

And the five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the five and twenty thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for suburbs; and the city shall be in the midst thereof.

They were to be young men without physical defect, handsome in appearance, skilled in all wisdom, quick to learn, prudent in how they used knowledge, and capable of serving in the king's palace. They were to learn the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

Then the king gave orders that the wonder-workers, and the users of secret arts, and those who made use of evil powers, and the Chaldaeans, were to be sent for to make clear to the king his dreams. So they came and took their places before the king.

Then the Chaldaeans said to the king in answer, There is not a man on earth able to make clear the king's business; for no king, however great his power, has ever made such a request to any wonder-worker or user of secret arts or Chaldaean.

Its foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful; on it there was food enough for all. Under it the wild animals used to seek shade, and in its branches the birds of the sky used to nest. All creatures used to feed themselves from it.

whose foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful, and from which there was food available for all, under whose branches wild animals used to live, and in whose branches birds of the sky used to nest --

“But at the end of the days [that is, at the seven periods of time], I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my understanding and reason returned to me; and I blessed the Most High [God] and I praised and honored and glorified Him who lives forever,

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion;
And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

and, for the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, races and tongues, used to tremble and to withdraw falteringly from before him, - Whom he would, he slew, and, whom he would, he kept alive, and, whom he would, he set up, and, whom he would, he put down.

I had not eaten [any] choice food, and meat and wine did not enter my mouth, and {I did not use any ointment} {until the end of three whole weeks}.

And he will make use of the people of a strange god to keep his strongest places; to those whom he takes note of he will give high honour: and he will make them rulers over the mass of the people, and will make division of the land for a price.

Yet shall the number of the sons of Israel become like the sand of the sea, which can neither he measured, nor numbered, - and it shall come to pass, in the place where it used to be said to them, No people of mine, are ye, it shall be said to them, Sons of a Living God!

For their mother, hath been unchaste, and she that conceived them, hath caused shame, - for she said, Let me go after my lovers! who used to give my bread, and my water, my wool, and my flax, mine oil, and my drink.

For she did not know that I gave her the grain, and the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied unto her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

So will I visit upon her the days of the Baals, unto whom she used to burn incense, and decked herself with her nose-ring and her jewelry, and went her way after her lovers, - whereas, me, she forgat, Declareth Yahweh.

Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman (Gomer) who is beloved by her husband and yet is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love the raisin cakes [used in the feasts in pagan worship].”

They shall eat, and not have enough: they have used whoredom, therefore shall they not prosper: and why? They have forsaken the LORD, and not regarded him.

I will not give punishment to your daughters or your brides for their evil behaviour; for they make themselves separate with loose women, and make offerings with those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods: the people who have no wisdom will be sent away.

This is why I have used the prophets
to cut them down;
I have killed them with the words of My mouth.
My judgment strikes like lightning.

Even so goeth it this day with our kings and princes, for they begin to be wood drunken through wine: they use familiarity with such as deceive them.

About the calves of Beth-aven, will the inhabitant of Samaria be concerned, - for the people thereof, have mourned over it, and, the ascetics thereof, who, over it, used to exult, shall mourn for the glory thereof, because it hath departed therefrom.

Ephraim was unto me, as a cow that is used to go to plow; therefore I loved him, and fell upon his fair neck. I drove Ephraim, Judah plowed, and Jacob played the husbandman:

Yet, I, had taught Ephraim to walk, I used to take them upon mine arms, - But they acknowledged not that I had healed them.

With human cords, used I to draw them, with the bands of love, so became I unto them like those who remove the yoke that was on their jaws, - and, holding out food to him, I let him eat.

that they may be scattered away from Egypt, as men scare birds: and frayed away, as doves used to be, from the Assyrians' land: and that because I would have them tarry at home, sayeth the LORD.

The businessmen love to cheat; they use dishonest scales.

I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.

Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord,
Weep between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “Have compassion and spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance (Israel) an object of ridicule,
Or a [humiliating] byword among the [Gentile] nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

They trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and deny justice to the oppressed; and a man and his father use the same maiden, to profane my holy name;

Ye that lie upon beds of ivory, and use your wantonness upon your couches; ye that eat the best lambs of the flock, and the fattest calves of the drove;

Saying, When doth the new moon pass, And we sell ground corn? And the sabbath, and we open out pure corn? To make little the ephah, And to make great the shekel, And to use perversely balances of deceit.

For lo, this I promise: though I sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as they use to sift in a sieve: yet shall not the smallest gravel stone fall upon the earth.

All her carved images will be smashed to pieces;
all her wages will be burned in the fire,
and I will destroy all her idols.
Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,
they will be used again for a prostitute.

In that day shall this term be used, and a mourning shall be made over you on this manner, "We be utterly desolate, the portion of my people is translated. When will he part unto us the land, that he hath taken from us?"

He will arbitrate between many peoples and settle disputes between many distant nations. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not use weapons against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.

I will put an end to your use of secret arts, and you will have no more readers of signs:

Will I tolerate those who maintain deceptive standards and who use deceitful weights in their business?

So shall she who had been mine enemy fear, and shame, shall cover her, who used to say unto me - Where is Yahweh thy God? Mine own eyes, shall look upon her, Now, shall she become one to he trodden down, like the mire of the lanes.

Use your rod to shepherd your people, the flock that belongs to you, that lives alone in the forest of Carmel. Let them find pasture in Bashan and Gilead, as they did long ago.

The lion, used to tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and to strangle for his lionesses, - and then fill with prey his holes, and his lairs with what he had torn.

What use is a carved idol
after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it
and makes idols that cannot speak.

You took the sheath from Your bow;
the arrows are ready to be used with an oath.Selah
You split the earth with rivers.

[Hush!] Be silent before the Lord God [there is no acceptable excuse to offer]!
For the day [of the vengeance] of the Lord is near,
For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice (Judah),
He has set apart [for His use] those who have accepted His invitation [the Chaldeans who rule Babylon].

The seacoast will be used as pasture lands by the shepherds and as pens for their flocks.

She gave no attention to the voice, she had no use for teaching, she put no faith in the Lord, she did not come near to her God.

Pay attention from now on to how things used to be before one stone had been laid upon another in the Temple of the LORD.

And, when ye used to eat and when ye used to drink, was it not, of your own accord, ye did eat, and, of your own accord, ye did drink?

Therefore came it to pass that - just as he cried out and they hearkened not, so, used they to cry out, and I used not to hearken, saith Yahweh of hosts;

For before those days there was no payment for a man's work, or for the use of a beast, and there was no peace for him who went out or him who came in, because of the attacker: for I had every man turned against his neighbour.

Furthermore, house of Judah and house of Israel, even though you used to be a curse among the nations, now I will surely save you, and you will be a blessing. Stop being afraid. Instead, grow stronger.'"

For I have made Judah a bow bent for my use, I have made Ephraim the arrows of the bow; I will make your sons, O Zion, take up arms against your sons, O Greece, and will make you like the sword of a man of war.

The Lord of hosts shall defend and protect them;
And they will devour [the enemy] and trample down the slingstones [that have missed their mark],
And they will drink [of victory] and be boisterous as with wine;
And they shall be filled like sacrificial bowls [used to catch the blood],
Drenched like the corners of the [sacrificial] altar.

I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall multiply as they used to multiply.

fter that shall the LORD go forth, to fight against those Heathen, as men used to fight in the day of battle.

Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will become holy in the sight of the Lord who rules over all, so that all who offer sacrifices may come and use some of them to boil their sacrifices in them. On that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord who rules over all.

Should a man use falsity and deceit with God, as ye use falsity and deceit with me? Yet ye say, 'Wherein use we deceit with thee?' In tithes and heave offerings.