Delphi Septuagint

by Lancelot C L Brenton (ed)

  [4] Hear now this, ye that oppress the poor in the morning, and drive the needy ones by tyranny from the earth, [5] saying, When will the month pass away, and we shall sell, and the sabbath, and we shall open the treasure, to make the measure small, and to enlarge the weight, and make the balance unfair? [6] That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for shoes; and we will trade in every kind of fruit. [7] The Lord swears against the pride of Jacob, None of your works shall ever be forgotten. [8] And shall not the land be troubled for these things, and shall not every one who dwells in it mourn? whereas destruction shall come up as a river, and shall descend as the river of Egypt.

  [9] And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that the sun shall go down at noon, and the light shall be darkened on the earth by day: [10] and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; and I will make them as the mourning of a beloved friend, and those with them as a day of grief.

  [11] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send forth a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. [12] And the waters shall be troubled from sea to sea, and from the north to the east shall men run hither and thither, seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find it. [13] In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst; [14] they who swear by the propitiation of Samaria, and who say, Thy god, O Dan, lives; and, Thy god, O Bersabee, lives; and they shall fall, and shall no more rise again.

  Chapter 9

  [1] I saw the Lord standing on the altar: and he said, Smite the mercy-seat, and the porch shall be shaken: and cut through into the heads of all; and I will slay the remnant of them with the sword: no one of them fleeing shall escape, and no one of them, striving to save himself shall be delivered. [2] Though they hid themselves in hell, thence shall my hand drag them forth; and though they go up to heaven, thence will I bring them down. [3] If they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, thence will I search them out and take them; and if they should go down from my presence into the depths of the sea, there will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them. [4] And if they should go into captivity before the face of their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes against them for evil, and not for good.

  [5] And the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, is he that takes hold of the land, and causes it to shake, and all that inhabit it shall mourn; and its destruction shall go up as a river, and shall descend as the river of Egypt. [6] It is he that builds his ascent up to the sky, and establishes his promise on the earth; who calls the water of the sea, and pours it out on the face of the earth; the Lord Almighty is his name.

  [7] Are not ye to me as the sons of the Ethiopians, O children of Israel? saith the Lord. Did I not bring Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of the deep? [8] Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the kingdom of sinners, and I will cut it off from the face of the earth; only I will not utterly cut off the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. [9] For I will give commandment, and sift the house of Israel among all the Gentiles, as corn is sifted in a sieve, and yet a fragment shall not in any wise fall upon the earth. [10] All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, Calamities shall certainly not draw near, nor come upon us.

  [11] In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and will rebuild the ruins of it, and will set up the parts thereof that have been broken down, and will build it up as in the ancient days: [12] that the remnant of men, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called, may earnestly seek me, saith the Lord who does all these things.

  [13] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when the harvest shall overtake the vintage, and the grapes shall ripen at seedtime; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall be planted. [14] And I will turn the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities, and shall inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and shall drink the wine from them; and they shall form gardens, and eat the fruit of them. [15] And I will plant them on their land, and they shall no more be plucked up from the land which I have given them, saith the Lord God Almighty.

  Obadiah

  Chapter 1

  [1] The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God to Idumea; I have heard a report from the Lord, and he has sent forth a message to the nations.

  [2] Arise ye, and let us rise up against her to war. [3] Behold, I have made thee small among the Gentiles: thou art greatly dishonoured. The pride of thine heart has elated thee, dwelling as thou dost in the holes of the rocks, as one that exalts his habitation, saying in his heart, Who will bring me down to the ground? [4] If thou shouldest mount up as the eagle, and if thou shouldest make thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. [5] If thieves came in to thee, or robbers by night, where wouldest thou have been cast away? would they not have stolen just enough for themselves? and if grape-gatherers went in to thee, would they not leave a gleaning?

  [6] How has Esau been searched out, and how have his hidden things been detected? [7] They sent thee to thy coasts: all the men of thy covenant have withstood thee; thine allies have prevailed against thee, they have set snares under thee: they have no understanding.

  [8] In that day, saith the Lord, I will destroy the wise men out of Idumea, and understanding out of the mount of Esau. [9] And thy warriors from Thaeman shall be dismayed, to the end that man may be cut off from the mount of Esau. [10] Because of the slaughter and the sin committed against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. [11] From the day that thou stoodest in opposition to him, in the days when foreigners were taking captive his forces, and strangers entered into his gates, and cast lots on Jerusalem, thou also wast as one of them.

  [12] And thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day of strangers; nor shouldest thou have rejoiced against the children of Juda in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have boasted in the day of their affliction. [13] Neither shouldest thou have gone into the gates of the people in the day of their troubles; nor yet shouldest thou have looked upon their gathering in the day of their destruction, nor shouldest thou have attacked their host in the day of their perishing. [14] Neither shouldest thou have stood at the opening of their passages, to destroy utterly those of them that were escaping; neither shouldest thou have shut up his fugitives in the day of affliction.

  [15] For the day of the Lord is near upon all the Gentiles: as thou have done, so shall it be done to thee: thy recompense shall be returned on thine own head. [16] For as thou hast drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink wine; they shall drink, and go down, and be as if they were not.

  [17] But on mount Sion there shall be deliverance, and there shall be a sanctuary; and the house of Jacob shall take for an inheritance those that took them for an inheritance. [18] And the house of Jacob shall be fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau shall be for stubble; and Israel shall flame forth against them, and shall devour them, and there shall not be a corn-field left to the house of Esau; because the Lord has spoken. [19] And they that dwell in the south shall inherit the mount of Esau, and they in the plain the Philistines: and they shall inherit the mount of Ephraim, and the plain of Samaria, and Benjamin, and the land of Galaad.

  [20] And this shall be the domain of the captivity of the children of Israel, the land of the Chananites as far as Sarepta; and the captives of Jerusalem shall inherit as far as Ephratha; they shall inherit the cities of the south.

  [21] And they that escape shall come up from mount Sion, to take vengeance on the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

  Jonah

  Chapter 1

  [1] Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amathi, saying, [2] Rise, and go to Nineve, t
he great city, and preach in it; for the cry of its wickedness is come up to me. [3] But Jonah rose up to flee to Tharsis from the presence of the Lord. And he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tharsis: and he paid his fare, and went up into it, to sail with them to Tharsis from the presence of the Lord.

  [4] And the Lord raised up a wind on the sea; and there was a great storm on the sea, and the ship was in danger of being broken. [5] And the sailors were alarmed, and cried every one to his god, and cast out the wares that were in the ship into the sea, that it might be lightened of them. But Jonah was gone down into the hold of the ship, and was asleep, and snored.

  [6] And the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, Why snorest thou? arise, and call upon thy God, that God may save us, and we perish not. [7] And each man said to his neighbour, Come, let us cast lots, and find out for whose sake this mischief is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

  [8] And they said to him, Tell us what is thine occupation, and whence comest thou, and of what country and what people art thou? [9] And he said to them, I am a servant of the Lord; and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea, and the dry land. [10] Then the men feared exceedingly, and said to him, What is this that thou hast done? for the men knew that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord, because he had told them. [11] And they said to him, What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm to us? for the sea rose, and lifted its wave exceedingly. [12] And Jonah said to them, Take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm to you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

  [13] And the men tried hard to return to the land, and were not able: for the sea rose and grew more and more tempestuous against them. [14] And they cried to the Lord, and said, Forbid it, Lord: let us not perish for the sake of this man’s life, and bring not righteous blood upon us: for thou, Lord, hast done as thou wouldest. [15] So they took Jonah, and cast him out into the sea: and the sea ceased from its raging. [16] And the men feared the Lord very greatly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and vowed vows.

  Chapter 2

  [1] Now the Lord had commanded a great whale to swallow up Jonah: and Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights.

  [2] And Jonah prayed to the Lord his God out of the belly of the whale, [3] and said,

  I cried in my affliction to the Lord my God, and he hearkened to me, even to my cry out of the belly of hell: thou heardest my voice. [4] Thou didst cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea, and the floods compassed me: all thy billows and thy waves have passed upon me. [5] And I said, I am cast out of thy presence: shall I indeed look again toward thy holy temple? [6] Water was poured around me to the soul: the lowest deep compassed me, my head went down [7] to the clefts of the mountains; I went down into the earth, whose bars are the everlasting barriers: yet, O Lord my God, let my ruined life be restored.

  [8] When my soul was failing me, I remembered the Lord; and may my prayer come to thee into thy holy temple. [9] They that observe vanities and lies have forsaken their own mercy. [10] But I will sacrifice to thee with the voice of praise and thanksgiving: all that I have vowed I will pay to thee, the Lord of my salvation.

  [11] And the whale was commanded by the Lord, and it cast up Jonah on the dry land.

  Chapter 3

  [1] And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, [2] Rise, go to Nineve, the great city, and preach in it according to the former preaching which I spoke to thee of. [3] And Jonah arose, and went to Nineve, as the Lord had spoken. Now Nineve was an exceeding great city, of about three days’ journey. [4] And Jonah began to enter into the city about a day’s journey, and he proclaimed, and said, Yet three days, and Nineve shall be overthrown.

  [5] And the men of Nineve believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloths, from the greatest of them to the least of them. [6] And the word reached the king of Nineve, and he arose from off his throne, and took off his raiment from him, and put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes. [7] And proclamation was made, and it was commanded in Nineve by the king an by his great men, saying, Let not men, or cattle, or oxen, or sheep, taste any thing, nor feed, nor drink water. [8] So men and cattle were clothed with sackcloths, and cried earnestly to God; and they turned every one from their evil way, and from the iniquity that was in their hands, saying, [9] Who knows if God will repent, and turn from his fierce anger, and so we shall not perish?

  [10] And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways; and God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did it not.

  Chapter 4

  [1] But Jonah was very deeply grieved, and he was confounded. [2] And he prayed to the Lord, and said, O Lord, were not these my words when I was yet in my land? therefore I made haste to flee to Tharsis; because I knew that thou are merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and abundant in kindness, and repentest of evil. [3] And now, Lord God, take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. [4] And the Lord said to Jonah, Art thou very much grieved?

  [5] And Jonah went out from the city, and sat over against the city; and he made for himself there a booth, and he sat under it, until he should perceive what would become of the city. [6] And the Lord God commanded a gourd, and it came up over the head of Jonah, to be a shadow over his head, to shade him from his calamities: and Jonah rejoiced with great joy for the gourd.

  [7] And God commanded a worm the next morning, and it smote the gourd, and it withered away. [8] And it came to pass at the rising of the sun, that God commanded a burning east wind; and the sun smote on the head of Jonah, and he fainted, and despaired of his life, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. [9] And God said to Jonah, Art thou very much grieved for the gourd? And he said, I am very much grieved, even to death.

  [10] And the Lord said, Thou hadst pity on the gourd, for which thou has not suffered, neither didst thou rear it; which came up before night, and perished before another night: [11] and shall not I spare Nineve, the great city, in which dwell more than twelve myriads of human beings, who do not know their right hand or their left hand; and also much cattle?

  Micah

  Chapter 1

  [1] And the word of the Lord came to Micah the son of Morasthi, in the days of Joatham, and Achaz, and Ezekias, kings of Juda, concerning what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem.

  [2] Hear these words, ye people; and let the earth give heed, and all that are in it: and the Lord God shall be among you for a testimony, the Lord out of his holy habitation. [3] For, behold, the Lord comes forth out of his place, and will come down, and will go upon the high places of the earth. [4] And the mountains shall be shaken under him, and the valleys shall melt like wax before the fire, and as water rushing down a declivity.

  [5] All these calamities are for the transgression of Jacob, and for the sin of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what is the sin of the house of Juda? is it not Jerusalem? [6] Therefore I will make Samaria as a store-house of the fruits of the field, and as a planting of a vineyard: and I will utterly demolish her stones, and I will expose her foundations. [7] And they shall cut in pieces all the graven images, and all that she has hired they shall burn with fire, and I will utterly destroy all her idols: because she has gathered of the hires of fornication, and of the hires of fornication has she amassed wealth.

  [8] Therefore shall she lament and wail, she shall go barefooted, and being naked she shall make lamentation as that of serpents, and mourning as of the daughters of sirens. [9] For her plague has become grievous; for it has come even to Juda; and has reached to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

  [10] Ye that are in Geth, exalt not yourselves, and ye Enakim, do not rebuild from the ruins of the house in derision: sprinkle dust in the place of your laughter. [11] The inhabitant of Sennaar, fairly inhabiting her cities, came not forth to mourn for the house next to her: she shall receive of you the stroke of grief.
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  [12] Who has begun to act for good to her that dwells in sorrow? for calamities have come down from the Lord upon the gates of Jerusalem, [13] even a sound of chariots and horsemen: the inhabitants of Lachis, she is the leader of sin to the daughter of Sion: for in thee were found the transgressions of Israel. [14] Therefore shall he cause men to be sent forth as far as the inheritance of Geth, even vain houses; they are become vanity to the kings of Israel; [15] until they bring the heirs, O inhabitant of Lachis: the inheritance shall reach to Odollam, even the glory of the daughter of Israel. [16] Shave thine hair, and make thyself bald for thy delicate children; increase thy widowhood as an eagle; for thy people are gone into captivity from thee.

  Chapter 2

  [1] They meditated troubles, and wrought wickedness on their beds, and they put it in execution with the daylight; for they have not lifted up their hands to God. [2] And they desired fields, and plundered orphans, and oppressed families, and spoiled a man and his house, even a man and his inheritance.

  [3] Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I devise evils against this family, out of which ye shall not lift up your necks, neither shall ye walk upright speedily: for the time is evil.

  [4] In that day shall a parable be taken up against you, and a plaintive lamentation shall be uttered, saying, We are thoroughly miserable: the portion of my people has been measured out with a line, and there was none to hinder him so as to turn him back; your fields have been divided. [5] Therefore thou shalt have no one to cast a line for the lot. [6] Weep not with tears in the assembly of the Lord, neither let any weep for these things; for he shall not remove the reproaches, [7] who says, The house of Jacob has provoked the Spirit of the Lord; are not these his practices? Are not the Lord’s words right with him? and have they not proceeded correctly? [8] Even beforetime my people withstood him as an enemy against his peace; they have stripped off his skin to remove hope in the conflict of war. [9] The leaders of my people shall be cast forth from their luxurious houses; they are rejected because of their evil practices; draw ye near to the everlasting mountains.