¹“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lᴏʀᴅ your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. ²And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God: ³Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. ⁴Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. ⁵Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ⁶Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. ⁷“The Lᴏʀᴅ will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. ⁸The Lᴏʀᴅ will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lᴏʀᴅ your God is giving you. ⁹The Lᴏʀᴅ will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God and walk in His ways. ¹⁰Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lᴏʀᴅ, and they shall be afraid of you. ¹¹And the Lᴏʀᴅ will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lᴏʀᴅ swore to your fathers to give you. ¹²The Lᴏʀᴅ will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. ¹³And the Lᴏʀᴅ will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. ¹⁴So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them. ¹⁵“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: ¹⁶Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. ¹⁷Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ¹⁸Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. ¹⁹Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. ²⁰“The Lᴏʀᴅ will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. ²¹The Lᴏʀᴅ will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. ²²The Lᴏʀᴅ will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. ²³And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. ²⁴The Lᴏʀᴅ will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. ²⁵The Lᴏʀᴅ will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. ²⁶Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. ²⁷The Lᴏʀᴅ will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. ²⁸The Lᴏʀᴅ will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. ²⁹And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you. ³⁰You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. ³¹Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them. ³²Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand. ³³A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. ³⁴So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see. ³⁵The Lᴏʀᴅ will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. ³⁶The Lᴏʀᴅ will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods—wood and stone. ³⁷And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lᴏʀᴅ will drive you. ³⁸You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. ³⁹You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. ⁴⁰You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. ⁴¹You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. ⁴²Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land. ⁴³The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. ⁴⁴He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. ⁴⁵Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. ⁴⁶And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever. ⁴⁷“Because you did not serve the Lᴏʀᴅ your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, ⁴⁸therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lᴏʀᴅ will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. ⁴⁹The Lᴏʀᴅ will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, ⁵⁰a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. ⁵¹And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you. ⁵²They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lᴏʀᴅ your God has given you. ⁵³You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the Lᴏʀᴅ your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. ⁵⁴The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, ⁵⁵so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. ⁵⁶The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter, ⁵⁷her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. ⁵⁸“If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, ⁵⁹then the Lᴏʀᴅ will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. ⁶⁰Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. ⁶¹Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lᴏʀᴅ bring upon you until you are destroyed. ⁶²You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God. ⁶³And it shall be, that just as the Lᴏʀᴅ rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lᴏʀᴅ will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. ⁶⁴“Then the Lᴏʀᴅ will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone. ⁶⁵And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lᴏʀᴅ will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. ⁶⁶Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. ⁶⁷In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see. ⁶⁸And the Lᴏʀᴅ will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

¹Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lᴏʀᴅ! ²Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart! ³They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways. ⁴You have commanded us To keep Your precepts diligently. ⁵Oh, that my ways were directed To keep Your statutes! ⁶Then I would not be ashamed, When I look into all Your commandments. ⁷I will praise You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments. ⁸I will keep Your statutes; Oh, do not forsake me utterly! ⁹How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. ¹⁰With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! ¹¹Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You! ¹²Blessed are You, O Lᴏʀᴅ! Teach me Your statutes! ¹³With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth. ¹⁴I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. ¹⁵I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. ¹⁶I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. ¹⁷Deal bountifully with Your servant, That I may live and keep Your word. ¹⁸Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law. ¹⁹I am a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me. ²⁰My soul breaks with longing For Your judgments at all times. ²¹You rebuke the proud—the cursed, Who stray from Your commandments. ²²Remove from me reproach and contempt, For I have kept Your testimonies. ²³Princes also sit and speak against me, But Your servant meditates on Your statutes. ²⁴Your testimonies also are my delight And my counselors. ²⁵My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your word. ²⁶I have declared my ways, and You answered me; Teach me Your statutes. ²⁷Make me understand the way of Your precepts; So shall I meditate on Your wondrous works. ²⁸My soul melts from heaviness; Strengthen me according to Your word. ²⁹Remove from me the way of lying, And grant me Your law graciously. ³⁰I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me. ³¹I cling to Your testimonies; O Lᴏʀᴅ, do not put me to shame! ³²I will run the course of Your commandments, For You shall enlarge my heart. ³³Teach me, O Lᴏʀᴅ, the way of Your statutes, And I shall keep it to the end. ³⁴Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. ³⁵Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. ³⁶Incline my heart to Your testimonies, And not to covetousness. ³⁷Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way. ³⁸Establish Your word to Your servant, Who is devoted to fearing You. ³⁹Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your judgments are good. ⁴⁰Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness. ⁴¹Let Your mercies come also to me, O Lᴏʀᴅ— Your salvation according to Your word. ⁴²So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word. ⁴³And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I have hoped in Your ordinances. ⁴⁴So shall I keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. ⁴⁵And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts. ⁴⁶I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, And will not be ashamed. ⁴⁷And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love. ⁴⁸My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, Which I love, And I will meditate on Your statutes. ⁴⁹Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope. ⁵⁰This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life. ⁵¹The proud have me in great derision, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law. ⁵²I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lᴏʀᴅ, And have comforted myself. ⁵³Indignation has taken hold of me Because of the wicked, who forsake Your law. ⁵⁴Your statutes have been my songs In the house of my pilgrimage. ⁵⁵I remember Your name in the night, O Lᴏʀᴅ, And I keep Your law. ⁵⁶This has become mine, Because I kept Your precepts. ⁵⁷You are my portion, O Lᴏʀᴅ; I have said that I would keep Your words. ⁵⁸I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; Be merciful to me according to Your word. ⁵⁹I thought about my ways, And turned my feet to Your testimonies. ⁶⁰I made haste, and did not delay To keep Your commandments. ⁶¹The cords of the wicked have bound me, But I have not forgotten Your law. ⁶²At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, Because of Your righteous judgments. ⁶³I am a companion of all who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts. ⁶⁴The earth, O Lᴏʀᴅ, is full of Your mercy; Teach me Your statutes. ⁶⁵You have dealt well with Your servant, O Lᴏʀᴅ, according to Your word. ⁶⁶Teach me good judgment and knowledge, For I believe Your commandments. ⁶⁷Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word. ⁶⁸You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes. ⁶⁹The proud have forged a lie against me, But I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart. ⁷⁰Their heart is as fat as grease, But I delight in Your law. ⁷¹It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes. ⁷²The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of coins of gold and silver. ⁷³Your hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. ⁷⁴Those who fear You will be glad when they see me, Because I have hoped in Your word. ⁷⁵I know, O Lᴏʀᴅ, that Your judgments are right, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. ⁷⁶Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort, According to Your word to Your servant. ⁷⁷Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; For Your law is my delight. ⁷⁸Let the proud be ashamed, For they treated me wrongfully with falsehood; But I will meditate on Your precepts. ⁷⁹Let those who fear You turn to me, Those who know Your testimonies. ⁸⁰Let my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes, That I may not be ashamed. ⁸¹My soul faints for Your salvation, But I hope in Your word. ⁸²My eyes fail from searching Your word, Saying, “When will You comfort me?” ⁸³For I have become like a wineskin in smoke, Yet I do not forget Your statutes. ⁸⁴How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me? ⁸⁵The proud have dug pits for me, Which is not according to Your law. ⁸⁶All Your commandments are faithful; They persecute me wrongfully; Help me! ⁸⁷They almost made an end of me on earth, But I did not forsake Your precepts. ⁸⁸Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. ⁸⁹Forever, O Lᴏʀᴅ, Your word is settled in heaven. ⁹⁰Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides. ⁹¹They continue this day according to Your ordinances, For all are Your servants. ⁹²Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction. ⁹³I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life. ⁹⁴I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your precepts. ⁹⁵The wicked wait for me to destroy me, But I will consider Your testimonies. ⁹⁶I have seen the consummation of all perfection, But Your commandment is exceedingly broad. ⁹⁷Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. ⁹⁸You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. ⁹⁹I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. ¹⁰⁰I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts. ¹⁰¹I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. ¹⁰²I have not departed from Your judgments, For You Yourself have taught me. ¹⁰³How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! ¹⁰⁴Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. ¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. ¹⁰⁶I have sworn and confirmed That I will keep Your righteous judgments. ¹⁰⁷I am afflicted very much; Revive me, O Lᴏʀᴅ, according to Your word. ¹⁰⁸Accept, I pray, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lᴏʀᴅ, And teach me Your judgments. ¹⁰⁹My life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law. ¹¹⁰The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts. ¹¹¹Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, For they are the rejoicing of my heart. ¹¹²I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, to the very end. ¹¹³I hate the double-minded, But I love Your law. ¹¹⁴You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word. ¹¹⁵Depart from me, you evildoers, For I will keep the commandments of my God! ¹¹⁶Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope. ¹¹⁷Hold me up, and I shall be safe, And I shall observe Your statutes continually. ¹¹⁸You reject all those who stray from Your statutes, For their deceit is falsehood. ¹¹⁹You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross; Therefore I love Your testimonies. ¹²⁰My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments. ¹²¹I have done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my oppressors. ¹²²Be surety for Your servant for good; Do not let the proud oppress me. ¹²³My eyes fail from seeking Your salvation And Your righteous word. ¹²⁴Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy, And teach me Your statutes. ¹²⁵I am Your servant; Give me understanding, That I may know Your testimonies. ¹²⁶It is time for You to act, O Lᴏʀᴅ, For they have regarded Your law as void. ¹²⁷Therefore I love Your commandments More than gold, yes, than fine gold! ¹²⁸Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way. ¹²⁹Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul keeps them. ¹³⁰The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. ¹³¹I opened my mouth and panted, For I longed for Your commandments. ¹³²Look upon me and be merciful to me, As Your custom is toward those who love Your name. ¹³³Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me. ¹³⁴Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts. ¹³⁵Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And teach me Your statutes. ¹³⁶Rivers of water run down from my eyes, Because men do not keep Your law. ¹³⁷Righteous are You, O Lᴏʀᴅ, And upright are Your judgments. ¹³⁸Your testimonies, which You have commanded, Are righteous and very faithful. ¹³⁹My zeal has consumed me, Because my enemies have forgotten Your words. ¹⁴⁰Your word is very pure; Therefore Your servant loves it. ¹⁴¹I am small and despised, Yet I do not forget Your precepts. ¹⁴²Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth. ¹⁴³Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, Yet Your commandments are my delights. ¹⁴⁴The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; Give me understanding, and I shall live. ¹⁴⁵I cry out with my whole heart; Hear me, O Lᴏʀᴅ! I will keep Your statutes. ¹⁴⁶I cry out to You; Save me, and I will keep Your testimonies. ¹⁴⁷I rise before the dawning of the morning, And cry for help; I hope in Your word. ¹⁴⁸My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word. ¹⁴⁹Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; O Lᴏʀᴅ, revive me according to Your justice. ¹⁵⁰They draw near who follow after wickedness; They are far from Your law. ¹⁵¹You are near, O Lᴏʀᴅ, And all Your commandments are truth. ¹⁵²Concerning Your testimonies, I have known of old that You have founded them forever. ¹⁵³Consider my affliction and deliver me, For I do not forget Your law. ¹⁵⁴Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Your word. ¹⁵⁵Salvation is far from the wicked, For they do not seek Your statutes. ¹⁵⁶Great are Your tender mercies, O Lᴏʀᴅ; Revive me according to Your judgments. ¹⁵⁷Many are my persecutors and my enemies, Yet I do not turn from Your testimonies. ¹⁵⁸I see the treacherous, and am disgusted, Because they do not keep Your word. ¹⁵⁹Consider how I love Your precepts; Revive me, O Lᴏʀᴅ, according to Your lovingkindness. ¹⁶⁰The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. ¹⁶¹Princes persecute me without a cause, But my heart stands in awe of Your word. ¹⁶²I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure. ¹⁶³I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law. ¹⁶⁴Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments. ¹⁶⁵Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble. ¹⁶⁶Lord, I hope for Your salvation, And I do Your commandments. ¹⁶⁷My soul keeps Your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly. ¹⁶⁸I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, For all my ways are before You. ¹⁶⁹Let my cry come before You, O Lᴏʀᴅ; Give me understanding according to Your word. ¹⁷⁰Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your word. ¹⁷¹My lips shall utter praise, For You teach me Your statutes. ¹⁷²My tongue shall speak of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness. ¹⁷³Let Your hand become my help, For I have chosen Your precepts. ¹⁷⁴I long for Your salvation, O Lᴏʀᴅ, And Your law is my delight. ¹⁷⁵Let my soul live, and it shall praise You; And let Your judgments help me. ¹⁷⁶I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.

¹“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. ²Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. ³Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you— The sure mercies of David. ⁴Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, A leader and commander for the people. ⁵Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, And nations who do not know you shall run to you, Because of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, And the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.” ⁶Seek the Lᴏʀᴅ while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. ⁷Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lᴏʀᴅ, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. ⁸“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁹“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. ¹⁰“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, ¹¹So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. ¹²“For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. ¹³Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; And it shall be to the Lᴏʀᴅ for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

¹In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” ³For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ” ⁴And John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him ⁶and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, ⁹and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹²His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. ¹⁶When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. ¹⁷And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”