Book 3.3: Jehovah rejected the Old Covenant Kingdom of Zion

Complement    Part 1: Jehovah caused the Kingdom to be destroyed and his people to be exiled to Babylon

Unique   Chapter 1.1: Jehovah was angry with the people of the Kingdom of Zion (Psalm 79)

§Complement   Introduction: The heathen have defiled the Temple, and slaughtered the people

¹O God, the heathen have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy Temple; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.

²The dead bodies of your servants have they given to be food to the birds of the heaven; the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth. ³They have shed their blood like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.

⁴We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.

§Complement   Body: Remember not our former iniquities; help us, and purge away our sins, for your Name's sake

⁵How long, Jehovah? Will you be angry forever? Shall your jealousy burn like fire?

⁶Pour out your wrath upon the heathen that have not known you, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon your Name: ⁷for they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.

⁸O remember not against us former iniquities; let your tender mercies speedily go before us: for we are brought very low.

⁹Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your Name; and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for your Name’s sake.

¹⁰Why should the heathen say, “Where is their God?” Let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of your servants which is shed.

§Unique   Conclusion: Hear the sighing of the prisoner, and render to our neighbors sevenfold their reproach against you

¹¹Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you; according to the greatness of your power preserve those that are appointed to die.

¹²And render to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, with which they have reproached you, O Lord.

¹³So we your people and sheep of your pasture will give you thanks forever; we will show forth your praise unto all generations.

Complement   Chapter 1.2: Jehovah had cast off the people of the Kingdom of Zion (Psalm 74)

§Unique   Introduction: Why are you angry? Remember your congregation, the rod of your inheritance

¹O God, why have you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?

²Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old; the rod of your inheritance, which you have redeemed: this mount Zion, wherein you have dwelt.

³Lift up your feet to the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy has done wickedly in the Sanctuary. ⁴Your enemies roar in the midst of your congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.

§Complement   Body: Your enemies have attacked and destroyed the Sanctuary; and there are no prophets

⁵A man once was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.

⁶But now they break down its carved work at once with axes and hammers. ⁷They have cast fire into your Sanctuary; they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of your Name to the ground. ⁸They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them together”; they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet; neither is there among us any that knows how long.

¹⁰O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your Name forever? ¹¹Why do you withdraw your hand, even your right hand?

Pluck it out of your bosom: ¹²for God is my King of old, working deliverance in the midst of the earth. ¹³You divided the Red sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the dragons in the water. ¹⁴You broke the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gave him to be food to the people inhabiting the wilderness. ¹⁵You divided the fountain and the Jordan river; you dried up mighty rivers. ¹⁶The day is yours; the night also is yours; you have prepared the light and the sun. ¹⁷You have set all the borders of the earth. You have made summer and winter.

§Complement   Conclusion: The enemy has reproached you, O Jehovah; remember the Covenant that you made with Israel

¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy has reproached you, O Jehovah, and the foolish people have blasphemed your Name.

¹⁹O do not deliver the soul of your turtledove to the multitude of the wicked; do not forget the congregation of your poor forever. ²⁰Have respect to the Covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. ²¹O let not the oppressed return ashamed; let the poor and needy praise your Name.

²²Arise, O God, plead your own cause; remember how the foolish man reproaches you daily. ²³Forget not the voice of your enemies. The tumult of those that rise up against you increases continually.

Complement   Chapter 1.3: Jehovah had abandoned the people of the Kingdom of Zion (Psalm 44)

§Unique   Introduction: You gave the land of Canaan to our fathers because you favored them

¹We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work you did in their days, in the times of old; ²how you drove out the heathen with your hand, and planted them; how you afflicted the people, and cast them out.

³For they did not get the land in possession by their own sword; neither did their own arm deliver them;

but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance delivered them, because you favored them.

§Complement   Body: But you have cast us off, and given us like sheep appointed for food

⁴You are my King, O God; command deliverances for Jacob. ⁵Through you will we push down our enemies; through your Name will we tread them under that rise up against us: ⁶for I will not trust in my bow; neither shall my sword save me. ⁷But you have saved us from our enemies, and have put them to shame that hated us. ⁸In God we boast all day long, and praise your Name forever. Selah.

⁹But you have cast off, and put us to shame, and do not go forth with our armies. ¹⁰You make us to turn back from the enemy; and they who hate us plunder for themselves. ¹¹You have given us like sheep appointed for food, and have scattered us among the heathen. ¹²You sell your people for nothing, and do not increase your wealth by their price. ¹³You make us a reproach to our neighbors; a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. ¹⁴You make us a joke among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people. ¹⁵My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face has covered me, ¹⁶for the voice of him that reproaches and blasphemes; by reason of the enemy and avenger.

¹⁷All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten you; neither have we dealt falsely in your Covenant. ¹⁸Our heart has not turned back; neither have our steps declined from your way, ¹⁹though you have broken us to pieces in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.

²⁰If we have forgotten the Name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god, ²¹shall not God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart.

²²Yea, for your sake we are killed all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

§Complement   Conclusion: Awake, O Lord! Why do you hide your face from us?

²³Awake, why do you sleep, O Lord? Arise, do not cast us off forever.

²⁴Why do you hide your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression? ²⁵For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the earth.

²⁶Arise for our help, and redeem us for your mercies’ sake.

 

 

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Opposite   Chapter 1.4: The people of Zion in exile prayed for vengeance against Edom (Psalm 137)

¹Beside the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Moreover, we wept, when we remembered Zion. ²We hung our harps upon the willows in its midst.

³For there they that carried us away captive demanded of us a song; and they that plundered us demanded joyfulness, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴How can we sing Jehovah’s song in a strange land?

⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill. ⁶If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.

⁷Remember, O Jehovah, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem’s destruction, who said, “Raze it, raze it, even to its foundation!” ⁸O daughter of Babylon, who is to be destroyed, happy shall he be, that repays you as you have served us. ⁹Happy shall he be, that takes and dashes your little ones against the stones.

Opposite   Chapter 1.5: The people of Zion were oppressed by their enemies in exile (Psalm 129)

¹Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say; ²many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me. ³The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.

⁴Jehovah is righteous; he has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.

⁵Let them all be ashamed and turned back that hate Zion.

⁶Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers before it grows up; ⁷with which the reaper fills not his hand; nor he that binds sheaves his bosom.

⁸Neither do they who go by say, “The blessing of Jehovah be upon you; we bless you in the Name of Jehovah.”

 

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Complement    Part 2: The people of Zion returned from exile in Persia without a king

Unique   Chapter 2.1: The people of Zion prayed for deliverance from exile (Psalm 80)

§Complement   Introduction: Turn us again, O God, and cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved

¹Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you that lead Joseph like a flock; you that dwell between the cherubim, shine forth.

²Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up your strength, and come save us.

³Turn us again, O God, and cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.

§Complement   Body: You brought a vine out of Egypt, but now every one who passes by takes what they want from it

⁴O Jehovah God of hosts, how long will you be angry against the prayer of your people? ⁵You feed them with the bread of tears; and give them tears to drink in great measure. ⁶You make us a strife to our neighbors; and our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷Return us, O God of hosts, and cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.

⁸You brought a vine out of Egypt; you have cast out the heathen, and planted it. ⁹You prepared room before it, and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land. ¹⁰The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and its branches were like the beautiful cedars. ¹¹She sent out her boughs to the sea, and her branches to the Euphrates river.

¹²Why then have you broken down her hedges, so that all they who pass by the way pluck her fruit? ¹³The boar out of the wood wastes it, and the wild beast of the field devours it.

¹⁴Return, please, O God of hosts; look down from Heaven, and behold, and visit this vine, ¹⁵and the vineyard which your right hand has planted, and the branch that you have made strong for yourself. ¹⁶It is burned with fire; it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.

§Unique   Conclusion: Revive us, and we will call upon your Name

¹⁷Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, upon the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself.

¹⁸So will not we go back from you; revive us, and we will call upon your Name.

¹⁹Return us, O Jehovah God of hosts; cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Complement    Chapter 2.2: The people of Zion prayed for revival after returning from exile (Psalm 85)

§Unique   Introduction: You have forgiven the iniquity of your people, you have turned from your fierce anger

¹Jehovah, you have been favorable to your land; you have brought back the captivity of Jacob.

²You have forgiven the iniquity of your people; you have covered all their sin. Selah.

³You have taken away all your wrath; you have turned from the fierceness of your anger.

§Complement   Body: Will you be angry with us forever? Will you not revive us again?

⁴Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause your anger toward us to cease.

⁵Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations?

⁶Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? ⁷Show us your mercy, O Jehovah, and grant us your deliverance.

⁸I will hear what Jehovah God will speak: for he will speak peace to his people, and to his saints; but let them not turn again to folly.

⁹Surely his salvation is near them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

§Complement   Conclusion: Mercy and truth have met together; truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from Heaven

¹⁰Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

¹¹Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from Heaven.

¹²Moreover, Jehovah shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. ¹³Righteousness shall go before him, and shall set us in the way of his steps.

Complement    Chapter 2.3: The people of Zion praised Jehovah for delivering them from exile (Psalm 107)

§Unique   Introduction: Let the redeemed of Jehovah testify, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered them out of the lands

¹O give thanks to Jehovah: for he is good: for his mercy endures forever.

²Let the redeemed of Jehovah testify, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

³and gathered them out of the lands; from the east, from the west, from the north, and from the south.

§Complement   Body: Rebels and fools fight against God, but then they cry to Jehovah, and He saves them out of their distresses

⁴They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. ⁵Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. ⁶Then they cried to Jehovah in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. ⁷And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. ⁸Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! ⁹For he satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.

¹⁰Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, ¹¹because they rebelled against the words of God, and scorned the Counsel of the most High; ¹²therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help. ¹³Then they cried to Jehovah in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. ¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bands in pieces. ¹⁵Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! ¹⁶For he has broken the gates of bronze, and shattered the bars of iron.

¹⁷Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. ¹⁸Their soul abhors all manner of food; and they draw near to the gates of death. ¹⁹Then they cry to Jehovah in their trouble, and he saves them out of their distresses. ²⁰He sent his Word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. ²¹Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! ²²And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

²³They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great water, ²⁴these see the works of Jehovah, and his wonders in the deep: ²⁵for he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves. ²⁶They mount up to the heaven; they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble. ²⁷They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. ²⁸Then they cry to Jehovah in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. ²⁹He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still. ³⁰Then are they glad because they are quiet, so he brings them to their desired haven. ³¹Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! ³²Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the Elders.

³³He turns rivers into a wilderness, and the water springs into dry ground; ³⁴a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. ³⁵He turns the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into water springs. ³⁶And there he makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation, ³⁷and sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. ³⁸Also he blesses them, so that they are multiplied greatly; and does not allow their cattle to decrease. ³⁹Again, they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. ⁴⁰He pours contempt upon princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. ⁴¹Yet he sets the poor on high from affliction, and makes him families like a flock.

§Complement   Conclusion: The righteous shall see it and rejoice; and all iniquity shall stop her mouth

⁴²The righteous shall see it, and rejoice;

and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

⁴³Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of Jehovah.

 

 

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Opposite   Chapter 2.4: Jehovah returned his people to the Promised Land from exile in Persia (Psalm 126)

¹When Jehovah returned the captivity of Zion to Jerusalem, we were like them that dream. ²Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.

Then they said among the heathen, “Jehovah has done great things for them.”

³Jehovah has done great things for us, whereof we are glad.

⁴Return our captivity, O Jehovah, as the streams in the south.

⁵They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. ⁶He that goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless return with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Opposite   Chapter 2.5: Israel called upon Jehovah to gather them from among the heathen (Psalm 106)

¹Praise Jehovah! O give thanks to Jehovah, because he is good: for his mercy endures forever. ²Who can utter the mighty acts of Jehovah? Who can show forth all his praise? ³Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that does righteousness at all times. ⁴Remember me, O Jehovah, with the favor that you bear to your people. O visit me with your salvation, ⁵that I may see the good of your chosen; that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation; that I may glory with your inheritance.

⁶We have sinned with our fathers; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedly. ⁷Our fathers did not understand your wonders in Egypt; they did not remember the multitude of your mercies, but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea. ⁸Nevertheless he saved them for his Name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. ⁹Also he rebuked the Red sea, and it was dried up, so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. ¹⁰And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. ¹¹And the waters covered their enemies; not one of them was left. ¹²Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. ¹³But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel, ¹⁴but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. ¹⁵So he gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul. ¹⁶Also they envied Moses in the camp, and Aaron the saint of Jehovah. ¹⁷The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. ¹⁸And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. ¹⁹They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molten statue. ²⁰Thus they changed their glory into the statue of a cow that eats grass. ²¹They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, ²²wondrous works in the land of Ham, and dreadful things by the Red sea. ²³Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he would destroy them. ²⁴Moreover, they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his Word, ²⁵but murmured in their tents, and did not listen to the voice of Jehovah. ²⁶Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: ²⁷to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. ²⁸Also they joined themselves to Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices offered to the dead. ²⁹Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions; and the plague broke in upon them. ³⁰Then Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment; and so the plague was stayed; ³¹and that was counted to him for righteousness to all generations forevermore. ³²Also they angered God at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes, ³³because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.

³⁴They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom Jehovah commanded them; ³⁵but were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. ³⁶And they served their idols, which were a snare to them. ³⁷Moreover, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, ³⁸and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. ³⁹Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

⁴⁰Therefore the wrath of Jehovah was kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. ⁴¹And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them. ⁴²Also their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. ⁴³Many times did he deliver them, but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. ⁴⁴Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry; ⁴⁵and he remembered for them his Covenant, and relented according to the multitude of his mercies. ⁴⁶He also made them to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

⁴⁷Deliver us, O Jehovah our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks to your holy Name, and to triumph in your praise. ⁴⁸Blessed is Jehovah God of Israel from Eternity past to Eternity future. And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise Jehovah!

 

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