Alpet 2022
King James Version
1. Now Samuel said to all Israel: "Indeed I have heeded your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. 2. "And now here is the king, walking before you; and I am old and grayheaded, and look, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my childhood to this day. 3. "Here I am. Witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you." 4. And they said, "You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand." 5. Then he said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." And they answered, " He is witness." 6. Then Samuel said to the people, " It is the LORD who raised up Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. 7. "Now therefore, stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD which He did to you and your fathers: 8. "When Jacob had gone into Egypt, and your fathers cried out to the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9. "And when they forgot the LORD their God, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them. 10. "Then they cried out to the LORD, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths; but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ 11. "And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you dwelt in safety. 12. "And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king. 13. "Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, the LORD has set a king over you. 14. "If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the LORD your God. 15. "However, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers. 16. "Now therefore, stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes: 17. " Is today not the wheat harvest? I will call to the LORD, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking a king for yourselves." 18. So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. 19. And all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves." 20. Then Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21. "And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. 22. "For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you His people. 23. "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way. 24. "Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 25. "But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king."
12. Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, so that no one can pass through? 13. And the LORD said, "Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, 14. "but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them," 15. therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. 16. "I will scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them." 17. Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider and call for the mourning women, That they may come; And send for skillful wailing women, That they may come. 18. Let them make haste And take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may run with tears, And our eyelids gush with water. 19. For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How we are plundered! We are greatly ashamed, Because we have forsaken the land, Because we have been cast out of our dwellings.’" 20. Yet hear the word of the LORD, O women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a lamentation. 21. For death has come through our windows, Has entered our palaces, To kill off the children–– no longer to be outside! And the young men–– no longer on the streets! 22. Speak, "Thus says the LORD: ‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall as refuse on the open field, Like cuttings after the harvester, And no one shall gather them .’" 23. Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 24. But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD. 25. "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that I will punish all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised–– 26. "Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the farthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart."
57. Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. 58. When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her. 59. So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. 60. His mother answered and said, "No; he shall be called John." 61. But they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name." 62. So they made signs to his father––what he would have him called. 63. And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, "His name is John." So they all marveled. 64. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed , and he spoke, praising God. 65. Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66. And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, "What kind of child will this be?" And the hand of the Lord was with him. 67. Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: 68. "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, 69. And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, 70. As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, 71. That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us, 72. To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant, 73. The oath which He swore to our father Abraham: 74. To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, 75. In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. 76. "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, 77. To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, 78. Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; 79. To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace." 80. So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.