8: 11b - 27 (translated by Edgar Goodspeed)
"Listen to me, rulers of the inhabitants of Bethulia, for the thing is not right that you have said before the people today, and have confirmed with this oath that you have sworn between God and you, saying that you will surrender the town to our enemies, unless the Lord turns and helps us within that time. Now who are you, who have tried God today, and who set youselves up in the place of God among the sons of men? You investigate the Lord Almighty, and will never learn anything. You cannot sound the depth of a man's mind, and you cannot grasp the thoughts of his understanding. How can you examine God, who made all these things, and understand his mind and perceive his thought? No, no, do not provoke the Lord our God. For if He does not wish to help us within these five days, He has power to protect us within whatever time He pleases, or to destroy us before our enemies. But you must not treat the counsels of the Lord our God as pledged, for God is not like a man, to be threatened, or like a son of man, to be cajoled.
Therefore let us wait for the deliverance that comes from Him, and call upon Him to help us, and He will hear our cry, if it pleases Him. For there has not arisen in our age nor is there today a tribe or family or people or town of our stock that worships gods made with hands, as they did in former times, because of which our forefathers were given up to the sword and to be despoiled and fell in a great disaster before our enemies. We have known no other god than him, and so we hope that he will not neglect us, nor any of our nation. For if we are taken, all Judea will be taken, and our sanctuary will be plundered, and He will hold our blood responsible for the profanation of it, and the slaughter of our brothers and the capture of the land and the desolation of our inheritance He will bring back upon our heads among the heathen wherever we are in slavery, and we will become an offense and a reproach in the sight of our master. For our slavery will not develop into favor, but the Lord our God will turn it into disgrace. Now brothers, let us set an example to our brothers, for their lives depend on us, and the sanctuary and the temple and the altar rest upon us. Notwithstanding all this, let us give thanks to the Lord our God, who is making trial of us as He did of our forefathers also. Remember how He dealt with Abraham, and how He dealt with Isaac, and what happened to Jacob in Syrian Mesopotamia, when he was keeping the sheep of his uncle laban. For He has not tried us with fire, as He did them, to search their hearts, and He has not taken vengeance upon us, but the Lord scourges those who come near him, to instruct them."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment