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Jeremiah Chapter 22

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asv (asv) - eBible.org engASV USFM

1 Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field?
2 or shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up?
3 For my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false
4 gods; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths, in a way not cast up;
5 to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head.
6 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
7 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
8 Give heed to me, O Jehovah, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.
9 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them.
10 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death,
11 and their young men smitten of the sword in battle.
12 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
13 Yet, Jehovah, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me; forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight; but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thou with them in the time of thine anger.
14 Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter’s earthen bottle, and
15 take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;
16 and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee;
17 and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
18 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, that they knew not, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
19 and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
20 therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.
21 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.
22 And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
23 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them.
24 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
25 and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury.
26 Thus will I do unto this place, saith Jehovah, and to the inhabitants thereof, even making this city as Topheth:
27 and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.
28 Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah’s house, and said to all the people:
29 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.
30 Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of Jehovah, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.

darby (darby) - eBible.org Darby 1890 plaintext

1 Thus saith Jehovah: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
2 and say, Hear the word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people who enter in through these gates.
3 Thus saith Jehovah: Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in through the gates of this house kings sitting in the place of David upon his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, — he, and his servants, and his people.
5 But if ye will not hear these words, I have sworn by myself, saith Jehovah, that this house shall become a waste.
6 For thus saith Jehovah concerning the house of the king of Judah: Thou art a Gilead unto me, the summit of Lebanon: verily I will make thee a wilderness, cities not inhabited.
7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons; and they shall cut down the choice of thy cedars, and cast [them] into the fire.
8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this great city?
9 And they shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah theirGod, and worshipped othergods, and served them.
10 Weep not for the dead, neither bemoan him; [but] weep sore for him that goeth away, for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
11 For thus saith Jehovah concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, who went forth out of this place: He shall not return thither any more;
12 for he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his upper chambers by injustice; that taketh his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not his earning;
14 that saith, I will build me a wide house, and spacious upper chambers; and he cutteth out for himself windows; and it is wainscoted with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign, because thou viest with the cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice? Then it was well with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not this to know me? saith Jehovah.
17 But thine eyes and thy heart are only on thine extortion, and on the blood of the innocent, to shed it, and on oppression and on violence, to do it.
18 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah: They shall not lament for him, Ah, my brother! or, Ah, sister! They shall not lament for him, Ah, lord! or Ah, his glory!
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, dragged along and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and give forth thy voice in Bashan, and cry from [the heights of] Abarim: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke unto thee in thy prosperity; [but] thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy way from thy youth, that thou hearkenedst not unto my voice.
22 The wind shall feed on all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; surely, then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
23 Thou inhabitress of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how pitiful shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, pain as of a woman in travail!
24 [As] I live, saith Jehovah, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet upon my right hand, yet will I pluck thee thence;
25 and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them before whom thou art afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
27 And into the land whereunto they lift up their souls to return, thither shall they not return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken vase? a vessel wherein is no delight? Wherefore are they thrown out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Jehovah!
30 Thus saith Jehovah: Write this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

lxxbrent (lxxbrent) - Septuagint (Brenton 1851) eBible USFM

1 Thus saith the Lord; Go thou, and go down to the house of the king of Juda, and thou shalt speak there this word,
2 and thou shalt say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Juda, that sittest on the throne of David, thou, and thy house, and thy people, and they that go in at these gates:
3 thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and justice, and rescue the spoiled out of the hand of him that wrongs him: and oppress not the stranger, and orphan, and widow, and sin not, and shed no innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye will indeed perform this word, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, and riding on chariots and horses, they, and their servants, and their people.
5 But if ye will not perform these words, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that this house shall be [brought] to desolation.
6 For thus saith the Lord concerning the house of the king of Juda; Thou art Galaad to me, [and] the head of Libanus: [yet] surely I will make thee a desert, [even] cities that shall not be inhabited:
7 and I will bring upon thee a destroying man, and his axe: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast [them] into the fire.
8 And nations shall pass through this city, and each shall say to his neighbour, Why has the Lord done thus to this great city?
9 And they shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped strange gods, and served them.
10 Weep not for the dead, nor lament for him: weep bitterly for him that goes away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native land.
11 For thus saith the Lord concerning Sellem the son of Josias, who reigns in the place of Josias his father, who has gone forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:
12 but in that place whither I have carried him captive, there shall he die, and shall see this land no more.
13 He that builds his house not with justice, and his upper chambers not with judgment, who works by means of his neighbour for nothing, and will by no means give him his reward.
14 Thou hast built for thyself a well-proportioned house, airy chambers, fitted with windows, and wainscoted with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign, because thou art provoked with thy father Achaz? they shall not eat, and they shall not drink: it is better for thee to execute judgment and justice.
16 They understood not, they judged not the cause of the afflicted, nor the cause of the poor: is not this thy not knowing me? saith the Lord.
17 Behold, thine eyes are not good, nor thine heart, but [they go] after thy covetousness, and after the innocent blood to shed it, and after acts of injustice and slaughter, to commit them.
18 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Joakim son of Josias, king of Juda, even concerning this man; they shall not bewail him, [saying], Ah brother! neither shall they at all weep for him, [saying], Alas Lord.
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass; he shall be dragged roughly along and cast outside the gate of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Libanus, and cry; and utter thy voice to Basan, and cry aloud to the extremity of the sea: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to thee on [occasion of] thy trespass, but thou saidst, I will not hearken. This [has been] thy way from thy youth, thou hast not hearkened to my voice.
22 The wind shall tend all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; for then shalt thou be ashamed and disgraced because of all thy lovers.
23 O thou that dwellest in Libanus, making thy nest in the cedars, thou shalt groan heavily, when pangs as of a travailing woman are come upon thee.
24 [As] I live, saith the Lord, though Jechonias son of Joakim king of Juda were indeed the seal upon my right hand, thence would I pluck thee;
25 and I will deliver thee into the hands of them that seek thy life, before whom thou art afraid, into the hands of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast forth thee, and thy mother that bore thee, into a land where thou wast not born; and there ye shall die.
27 But they shall by no means return to the land which they long for in their souls.
28 Jechonias is dishonoured as a good-for-nothing vessel; for he is thrown out and cast forth into a land which he knew not.
29 Land, land, hear the word of the Lord.
30 Write ye this man an outcast: for there shall none of his seed at all grow up to sit on the throne of David, [or as] a prince yet in Juda.

vul1914 (vul1914) - Vulgate 1914 UTF-8 (sacredbible.org)

1 Hæc dicit Dominus: Descende in domum regis Iuda, et loqueris ibi verbum hoc,
2 et dices: Audi verbum Domini rex Iuda, qui sedes super solium David: tu et servi tui, et populus tuus, qui ingredimini per portas istas.
3 Hæc dicit Dominus: Facite iudicium et iustitiam, et liberate vi oppressum de manu calumniatoris: et advenam, et pupillum, et viduam nolite contristare, neque opprimatis inique: et sanguinem innocentem ne effundatis in loco isto.
4 Si enim facientes feceritis verbum istud: ingredientur per portas domus huius reges sedentes de genere David super thronum eius, et ascendentes currus et equos, ipsi et servi, et populus eorum.
5 Quod si non audieritis verba hæc: in memetipso iuravi, dicit Dominus, quia in solitudinem erit domus hæc.
6 Quia hæc dicit Dominus super domum regis Iuda: Galaad tu mihi caput Libani: si non posuero te solitudinem, urbes inhabitabiles.
7 Et sanctificabo super te interficientem virum et arma eius: et succident electas cedros tuas, et præcipitabunt in ignem.
8 Et pertransibunt gentes multæ per civitatem hanc: et dicet unusquisque proximo suo: Quare fecit Dominus sic civitati huic grandi?
9 Et respondebunt: Eo quod dereliquerint pactum Domini Dei sui, et adoraverint deos alienos, et servierint eis.
10 Nolite flere mortuum, neque lugeatis super eum fletu: plangite eum, qui egreditur, quia non revertetur ultra, nec videbit terram nativitatis suæ.
11 Quia hæc dicit Dominus ad Sellum filium Iosiæ regem Iuda, qui regnavit pro Iosia patre suo, qui egressus est de loco isto. Non revertetur huc amplius:
12 sed in loco, ad quem transtuli eum, ibi morietur, et terram istam non videbit amplius.
13 Væ qui ædificat domum suam in iniustitia, et cœnacula sua non in iudicio: amicum suum opprimet frustra, et mercedem eius non reddet ei.
14 Qui dicit: Ædificabo mihi domum latam, et cœnacula spatiosa: qui aperit sibi fenestras, et facit laquearia cedrina, pingitque sinopide.
15 Numquid regnabis, quoniam confers te cedro? pater tuus numquid non comedit et bibit, et fecit iudicium et iustitiam tunc cum bene erat ei?
16 Iudicavit causam pauperis et egeni in bonum suum: numquid non ideo quia cognovit me, dicit Dominus?
17 Tui vero oculi et cor ad avaritiam, et ad sanguinem innocentem fundendum, et ad calumniam, et ad cursum mali operis.
18 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus ad Ioakim filium Iosiæ regem Iuda: Non plangent eum: Væ frater et væ soror: non concrepabunt ei: Væ Domine, et væ inclyte.
19 Sepultura asini sepelietur, putrefactus et proiectus extra portas Ierusalem.
20 Ascende Libanum, et clama: et in Basan da vocem tuam, et clama ad transeuntes, quia contriti sunt omnes amatores tui.
21 Locutus sum ad te in abundantia tua; et dixisti: Non audiam: hæc est via tua ab adolescentia tua, quia non audisti vocem meam:
22 Omnes pastores tuos pascet ventus, et amatores tui in captivitatem ibunt: et tunc confunderis, et erubesces ab omni malitia tua.
23 Quæ sedes in Libano, et nidificas in cedris, quomodo congemuisti cum venissent tibi dolores, quasi dolores parturientis?
24 Vivo ego, dicit Dominus: quia si fuerit Iechonias filius Ioakim regis Iuda, annulus in manu dextera mea, inde evellam eum.
25 Et dabo te in manu quærentium animam tuam, et in manu quorum tu formidas faciem, et in manu Nabuchodonosor regis Babylonis, et in manu Chaldæorum.
26 Et mittam te, et matrem tuam, quæ genuit te, in terram alienam, in qua nati non estis, ibique moriemini:
27 et in terram, ad quam ipsi levant animam suam ut revertantur illuc: non revertentur.
28 Numquid vas fictile atque contritum vir iste Iechonias? numquid vas absque omni voluptate? quare abiecti sunt ipse et semen eius, et proiecti in terram, quam ignoraverunt?
29 Terra, terra, terra, audi sermonem Domini.
30 Hæc dicit Dominus: Scribe virum istum sterilem, virum, qui in diebus suis non prosperabitur: nec enim erit de semine eius vir, qui sedeat super solium David, et potestatem habeat ultra in Iuda.

web (web) - WorldEnglish.Bible — CC0 modern update of ASV

1 The LORD said, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak this word there:
2 ‘Hear the LORD’s word, king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne—you, your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates.
3 The LORD says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if you do this thing indeed, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter in by the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses—they, their servants, and their people.
5 But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself,” says the LORD, “that this house will become a desolation.”’”
6 For the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are Gilead to me, the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make you a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited.
7 I will prepare destroyers against you, everyone with his weapons, and they will cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
8 “Many nations will pass by this city, and they will each ask his neighbor, ‘Why has the LORD done this to this great city?’
9 Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD their God, worshiped other gods, and served them.’”
10 Don’t weep for the dead. Don’t bemoan him; but weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he will return no more, and not see his native country.
11 For the LORD says touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went out of this place: “He won’t return there any more.
12 But he will die in the place where they have led him captive. He will see this land no more.”
13 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and doesn’t give him his hire;
14 who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house and spacious rooms,’ and cuts out windows for himself, with a cedar ceiling, and painted with red.
15 “Should you reign because you strive to excel in cedar? Didn’t your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; so then it was well. Wasn’t this to know me?” says the LORD.
17 But your eyes and your heart are only for your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, for oppression, and for doing violence.”
18 Therefore the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They won’t lament for him, saying, ‘Ah my brother!’ or, ‘Ah sister!’ They won’t lament for him, saying ‘Ah lord!’ or, ‘Ah his glory!’
19 He will be buried with the burial of a donkey, drawn and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out. Lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from Abarim; for all your lovers have been destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from your youth, that you didn’t obey my voice.
22 The wind will feed all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. Surely then you will be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.
23 Inhabitant of Lebanon, who makes your nest in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied you will be when pangs come on you, the pain as of a woman in travail!
24 “As I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, I would still pluck you from there.
25 I would give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of them of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 I will cast you out with your mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born; and there you will die.
27 But to the land to which their soul longs to return, there they will not return.”
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? Is he a vessel in which no one delights? Why are they cast out, he and his offspring, and cast into a land which they don’t know?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the LORD’s word!
30 The LORD says, “Record this man as childless, a man who will not prosper in his days; for no more will a man of his offspring prosper, sitting on David’s throne and ruling in Judah.”

ylt (ylt) - Bible.com YLT98 plain UTF-8

1 Thus said Jehovah, `Go down <FI>to<Fi> the house of the king of Judah, and thou hast spoken there this word, and hast said,
2 Hear a word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who art sitting on the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people, who are coming in at these gates,
3 Thus said Jehovah: Do ye judgment and righteousness, And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, And sojourner, orphan, and widow, ye do not oppress nor wrong, And innocent blood ye do not shed in this place.
4 For, if ye certainly do this thing, Then come in by the gates of this house Have kings sitting for David on his throne, Riding on chariot, and on horses, He, and his servants, and his people.
5 And if ye do not hear these words, By myself I have sworn--an affirmation of Jehovah, That this house is for a desolation.
6 For thus said Jehovah, Concerning the house of the king of Judah: Gilead <FI>art<Fi> thou to Me--head of Lebanon, If not--I make thee a wilderness, Cities not inhabited.
7 And I have separated for thee destroyers, Each with his weapons, And they have cut down the choice of thy cedars, And have cast them on the fire.
8 And many nations have passed by this city, And they have said, each to his neighbour, For what hath Jehovah done thus to this great city?
9 And they have said, `Because that they have forsaken The covenant of Jehovah their God, And bow themselves to other gods, and serve them.'
10 Ye do not weep for the dead, nor bemoan for him, Weep ye sore for the traveller, For he doth not return again, Nor hath he seen the land of his birth.
11 For thus said Jehovah concerning Shallum son of Josiah king of Judah, who is reigning instead of Josiah his father, who hath gone forth from this place: He doth not turn back hither again;
12 For in the place whither they have removed him he dieth, And this land he doth not see again.
13 Woe to him who is building his house by unrighteousness, And his upper chambers by injustice, On his neighbour he layeth service for nought, And his wage he doth not give to him.
14 Who is saying, `I build for myself a large house, And airy upper chambers,' And he hath cut out for himself its windows, Ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Dost thou reign, because thou art fretting thyself in cedar? Thy father--did he not eat and drink? Yea, he did judgment and righteousness, Then <FI>it is<Fi> well with him.
16 He decided the cause of the poor and needy, Then <FI>it is<Fi> well--is it not to know Me? An affirmation of Jehovah.
17 But thine eyes and thy heart are not, Except on thy dishonest gain, And on shedding of innocent blood, And on oppression, and on doing of violence.
18 Therefore, thus said Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: They do not lament for him, Ah, my brother, and Ah, sister, They do not lament for him, Ah, lord, and Ah, his honour.
19 The burial of an ass--he is buried, Dragged and cast out thence to the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry, And in Bashan give forth thy voice, And cry from Abarim, For destroyed have been all loving thee.
21 I have spoken unto thee in thine ease, Thou hast said, `I do not hearken,' This <FI>is<Fi> thy way from thy youth, For thou hast not hearkened to My voice.
22 All thy friends consume doth wind, And thy lovers into captivity do go, Surely then thou art ashamed, And hast blushed for all thy wickedness.
23 O dweller in Lebanon, making a nest among cedars, How gracious hast thou been when pangs come to thee, Pain--as of a travailing woman.
24 I live--an affirmation of Jehovah, Though Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah Were a seal on My right hand, Surely thence I draw thee away,
25 And I have given thee into the hand of those seeking thy life, And into hands of which thou art afraid, Into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I have cast thee, And thy mother who bore thee, unto another country, Where ye were not born, and there do ye die.
27 And to the land whither they are lifting up their soul to return, Thither they do not return.
28 A grief--a despised broken thing--is this man Coniah? A vessel in which there is no pleasure? Wherefore have they been cast up and down, He and his seed, Yea, they were cast on to a land that they knew not?
29 Earth, earth, earth, hear a word of Jehovah,
30 Thus said Jehovah: Write ye this man childless, A man--he doth not prosper in his days, For none of his seed doth prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling again in Judah!

Explanations by Age Level

Explain Like I'm 5

A long, long time ago, there was nothing at all - no earth, no sky, no animals, no people. It was all dark and empty. But God was there! God is so powerful that He can make anything just by speaking. So God said "Let there be light!" and BOOM! There was light everywhere! God saw that the light was beautiful and good. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night." This was the very first day when God started making our wonderful world!

Explain Like I'm 10

Before anything existed - no planets, stars, or life - God decided to create the universe. The earth started out as a dark, empty place covered with water. But God's Spirit was there, ready to bring order and beauty to everything. When God spoke and said "Let there be light," light immediately appeared because God's words have incredible power. God looked at the light and was pleased with what He had made. He organized time by separating light (day) from darkness (night), creating the first 24-hour period. This shows us that God is organized and purposeful in everything He does.

Explain Like I'm 15

Genesis 1:1-5 establishes fundamental theological truths about God and creation. The Hebrew word "bara" (created) indicates creation from nothing (ex nihilo), demonstrating God's absolute sovereignty and power. The phrase "without form and void" (tohu wa-bohu) describes a state of chaos that God transforms into order. The Spirit of God "hovering" or "brooding" over the waters suggests active, caring involvement in creation. The creation of light before the sun (created on day 4) indicates that God Himself is the ultimate source of light and energy. The establishment of day and night creates the framework of time, showing that God operates within orderly patterns while transcending them. This passage refutes both atheistic materialism and pantheism, establishing that God is both transcendent (separate from creation) and immanent (actively involved in it).