18 Yahweh, there is no [RHQ] God like you;

you forgive the sins [DOU] that were committed by the people who have survived,

the people who belong to you.

You do not remain angry forever;

you are very happy to show us that you faithfully love us.

1 O God, be merciful to me,

because you love me faithfully;

because you are very merciful,

erase the record of the ways that I disobeyed you!

2 Make me pure from the wrong things that I have done;

make me clean from the guilt of my sin.

6 Yahweh, do not forget how you have acted mercifully to me and have faithfully loved me;

that is the way that you have acted toward me from long ago.

7 Forgive me for all the sinful things I did and the ways that I rebelled against you when I was young;

I ask this because you faithfully love your people and do good things for them,

Yahweh, do not forget me!

1 Yahweh, I have a lot of troubles/many difficulties, so I call out to you.

2 Yahweh, hear me,

while I call out to you [SYN] to be merciful to me!

11 Yahweh, do not stop being merciful to me.

Because you faithfully love me [PRS] and are loyal to me, always protect me.

6 I am certain that you will be good to me

and act mercifully toward me

as long as I live;

and then, O Yahweh, I will live in your home in heaven forever.

13 Just like parents act mercifully toward their children,

Yahweh is kind to those who revere him.

15 But the results of God’s erasing the record of our sins as a gift to us are not like the results of Adam’s sinning. The result of one man, Adam, sinning was that many/all people have died. But it is certain, however, that many people have abundantly experienced God’s acting kindly toward them in a way they did not deserve. It is also certain that they have experienced God’s erasing the record of their sins as the result of one man, Jesus Christ, acting kindly toward them/towards them in a way they did not deserve.

15 I suppose that certain people might think about what I have just said and they might say [RHQ], "You say that the laws God gave Moses did not enable us to stop sinning, but that God is now treating us kindly in ways we do not deserve. ◄That seems to mean that God permits us to continue sinning./Does that mean that God permits us to continue sinning?► [RHQ]" My reply to that is no, we should certainly not continue sinning

4 But God always acts very mercifully, and he loves us very much. 5 As a result, even when we were ◄spiritually dead/as unable to please God as a corpse [MET] is► because we were habitually sinning, he enabled us to receive spiritual/eternal life because of our relationship with Christ. Do not forget this: It is only because God has acted so kindly toward you, in a way that you did not deserve, that you are saved {that he saved you} from the guilt of your sin

9 But he said to me, "No, I will not take this away from you. Instead, I will kindly help you, and that will be all that you need, because it is when you are weak that I can best work powerfully to help you." So, because of what the Lord said to me, I will very gladly boast about the things that make me seem weak, so that people may realize that it is Christ who gives me power to serve him.

13 Those who refuse to confess/admit their sins will not prosper,

but God acts mercifully/kindly toward those who confess their sins and turn away from their sinful behavior.

7 Wicked people should abandon their wicked behavior,

and evil people should stop thinking what is evil.

They should turn to me,

and if they do that, I will act mercifully toward them;

they should turn to me, their God,

because I will fully pardon them for all the wicked things that they have done.

18 But Yahweh wants to be kind to you;

he desires to show you that he is merciful.

Do not forget that Yahweh is a God who acts justly;

he is pleased with those who patiently trust in him.

13 He continued by saying, "You need to learn what these words that God said mean: ‘I want you to act mercifully to people and not just to offer sacrifices.’ Keep in mind that I came from heaven, not to invite people who think [IRO] that they are righteous to turn away from their sinful lives and come to me, but to invite people who know they are sinners to turn from their sins and come to me."

21 Then Peter approached Jesus and said to him, "How many times must I forgive a fellow believer who keeps on sinning against me? If he keeps asking me to forgive him, must I forgive him as many as seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I tell you that the number of times you must forgive someone is not just up to seven, but you must ◄forgive him 77 times/never stop forgiving him►.

14 "Forgive the people who sin against you, because, if you forgive other people, God, your Father who is in heaven, will forgive your sins.

31 But because you act very mercifully, you did not get rid of them completely or abandon them forever. You are a very gracious/kind and merciful God!

5 Things will go well for those who generously lend money to others

and who conduct their businesses honestly.

17 Lord, our God, give us your blessings

and enable us to be successful;

yes, cause us to be successful in everything that we do [DOU]!

16 So, let us come boldly to Christ [MTY], who rules [MET] from heaven and does for us what we do not deserve, in order that we might experience his acting mercifully toward us, and in order that we might experience his helping us in a kind way whenever we need help.

1 My fellow believers, since God has acted mercifully toward you in so many ways, I appeal to all of you that you present yourselves [SYN] to him by making yourselves like holy sacrifices [MET]. Make yourselves sacrifices that he is pleased with, sacrifices that are living/alive, not ones that are dead/killed. Since God has done so much for you/us, this is the only appropriate way to serve him.

16 God loved us people [MTY] in the world so much that he gave his only Son as a sacrifice for us, in order that everyone who believes in him would not be separated from God forever. Instead, they would have eternal life.

29 Remember that he has not only kindly enabled you to believe in Christ, he has also kindly allowed you to suffer for the sake of Christ.

1-3 The king and his officials and all the other people who had gathered in Jerusalem wanted to celebrate the Passover Festival. But they were not able to celebrate it at the usual time, because many of the priests had still not performed the rituals to purify themselves; therefore they were not allowed to do serve in the festival. Also, everyone had still not come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. So they decided to celebrate it one month later than usual. 4 The king and all the other people who had gathered thought that was a good plan. 5 So they decided to send messages to all the towns in Judah and in Israel, from Beersheba in the far south to Dan in the far north, including towns in the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, to invite people to come to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Festival to honor Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people worshiped/belonged to. Many of the people had not previously celebrated that festival, even though it had been written in the laws of Moses that they should do that.

6 Obeying what the king commanded, messengers went throughout Judah and Israel, taking messages that had been written by the king and his officials. This is what they wrote:

"You Israeli people, you who survived after being slaves of the kings of Assyria, return to Yahweh, the God whom our great ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiped/belonged to, in order that he may return to you. Your fathers and brothers did not faithfully obey Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors worshiped. 7 Do not act like they did, because what they did caused other people to become disgusted with them. 8 Do not be stubborn as our ancestors were. Do what Yahweh desires. Come to Jerusalem to the temple, which he has set apart forever. Do what pleases Yahweh our God, in order that he will no longer be angry with you. 9 If you return to Yahweh, the people who have captured our brothers and sisters and our children will be kind to them, and allow them to return to this land. Do not forget that Yahweh our God is kind and merciful. If you return to him, he will no longer reject you."

10 The messengers went to all the towns in the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far north as the tribe of Zebulun, and gave them this message, but most of the people there scorned them and ridiculed them. 11 But some of the people of the tribes of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. 12 Also in Judah God motivated the people to be united in wanting to do what Yahweh wanted them to do, which is what the king and his officials had told them to do in the message that they sent.

13 So a huge crowd of people gathered in Jerusalem in May, to celebrate the Festival of Eating Unleavened Bread. 14 They removed the altars of Baal in Jerusalem and took away the altars for burning incense to honor other gods, and burned them in Kidron Valley.

15 They slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of that month. Some of the priests and the other descendants of Levi were ashamed because they had not performed the rituals to cause them to be acceptable to work for Yahweh. So they performed those rituals, and brought to the temple animals to be completely burned on the altar.

16 Then they stood at the places where Moses had written in his laws that they should stand. Then the descendants of Levi gave to the priests bowls containing blood of the animals that were being sacrificed, and the priests sprinkled the altar with some of the blood. 17 Many people in the crowd had not purified themselves, and therefore they were not able to kill the lambs and dedicate them to Yahweh. So it was necessary for the descendants of Levi to kill the lambs for them. 18 Although most of the people who had come from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Issachar had not purified themselves, they ate the food of the Passover Festival anyway, ignoring the rules written by Moses. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying "Yahweh, you always do what is good; I pray that you will forgive everyone 19 who sincerely wants to honor you, the God whom our ancestors worshiped, even if they have not purified themselves by obeying the sacred laws that you gave to us." 20 And Yahweh heard what Hezekiah prayed; he forgave the people, and did not punish them.

21 The Israeli people who were there in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Eating Unleavened Bread for seven days. They rejoiced greatly as they celebrated, while the priests and other descendants of Levi sang to Yahweh every day, and played musical instruments to praise God.

22 Hezekiah thanked all the descendants of Levi for doing this work for Yahweh, and for very skillfully leading the people who were worshiping. For those seven days the people ate the Passover food and brought offerings to maintain fellowship with Yahweh and praised Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors belonged to/had worshiped.

23 Then the whole group decided to celebrate for seven more days, so they did: They celebrated joyfully for seven more days. 24 King Hezekiah provided 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep to be slaughtered for the people to eat during the festival, and the officials also gave them 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep and goats. Many priests consecrated themselves. 25 All the people of Judah rejoiced, including the priests and other descendants of Levi and all the people from Israel who had come, and including some from other countries who were living in Israel and some from other countries who were living in Judah. 26 Everyone in Jerusalem was very joyful, because nothing like this had happened in Jerusalem since the time when David’s son Solomon was the king of Israel. 27 The priests and the other descendants of Levi stood up to bless the people, and God heard them in heaven, the holy place where he lives.

1 "Moses wrote that if a man divorces his wife and then she marries another man,

her first husband certainly must not [RHQ] take her back again to be his wife,

because that would certainly [RHQ] cause the whole nation to become unacceptable to me.

But you have more idols than prostitutes have men whom they have slept with!

So, why should I accept you if you return to me?" [RHQ] says Yahweh.

2 "Look up at the barren hilltops.

On every hilltop there are [RHQ] idols that you have worshiped.

It is as though they are all lovers with whom you have had sex.

It is as though you have sat along the roadsides like an Arab, waiting to attack and steal things from those who pass by.

Because of worshiping idols and all the other wicked things that you have done,

you have caused the entire land to become unacceptable to me.

3 That is why I have not sent you any rain at the times of the year when you needed it.

But you are like prostitutes [MET]

who are not at all ashamed for what they have done.

4 Now each of you says to me, ‘You are my father!

You have loved me ever since I was young!

5 So surely you will not [RHQ] be angry with me forever!’

But you will not quit sinning!"

6 One day when Josiah was the king of Judah, Yahweh said to me, "Have you seen what the people of Israel have done? They have turned away from me, like a woman who has abandoned her husband and sleeps with other men. They have gone up on every hilltop and under every big tree and worshiped idols there [MET]. 7 I thought that they would return to me, so I said to them, ‘Come back to me!’ But they refused. So I sent them away to other countries, like a man writes a note saying that he is divorcing his wife and then sends his wife away because she has committed adultery [MET]. 8 The people of Judah saw what I did to them. But they are just like the people of Israel. They are not afraid of what I will do to them. They also have turned away from me and are worshiping idols like women who abandon their husbands and go to other men [MET]. 9 They thought that worshiping idols did not matter to me, so they have made the entire land unacceptable to me by worshiping idols of wood and stone. 10 The people of Judah have pretended to return to me, but they have not really done that. This is true because I, Yahweh, have said it."

11 Then Yahweh said to me, "The people of Israel have turned away from me, but what the people of Judah have done is worse. 12 So go and tell this to the people of Israel:

‘Yahweh says this to you Israeli people who have turned away from him:

I am merciful.

I will not continue to be angry with you forever.

So return to me.

13 But you must admit/say that you are guilty,

and that you have rebelled against me, Yahweh, your God,

that you have worshiped idols under big trees everywhere,

and you have not obeyed me.

You have turned away from me.

14 But you belong to me.

So I will take you, one from each city and two from each clan,

and bring you back to Jerusalem

from the countries to which you were exiled.

15 If you do that, I will appoint for you leaders with whom I am pleased,

leaders who will guide you well because they will know and understand what pleases me.

16 And when you become very numerous [DOU] in your land,

you will not need to talk about the Sacred Chest that contained the Ten Commandments.

You will not think about it,

and you will not want to make a new one.

17 At that time people will say, "Jerusalem is the place where Yahweh’s throne is."

People from all nations will come there to worship me.

And they will no longer stubbornly do the evil things that they desire.

18 At that time you people [MTY] of Israel and the people of Judah will return from being ◄exiled/forced to live► in lands to the northeast.

You will return to the land that I gave to your ancestors to belong to them forever.

19 You people of Israel, I wanted to accept you to be my children.

I wanted to give you this delightful land.

It is a land more desirable/pleasant than the land of any other nation!

I wanted you to call me ‘father’,

and I wanted you to never turn away from me.

20 But you have abandoned me like wives who have abandoned their husbands.’ "

That is what Yahweh said, and I told it to the people of Israel.

21 People will hear a noise on the barren hilltops.

It will be the noise made by people weeping and pleading for God to be merciful to them.

They will be admitting/saying that they have forgotten Yahweh their God,

and that they turned away from behaving as God wanted them to.

22 Yahweh will say to them, "You Israeli people, come back to me!

If you do that, I will cause you to never turn away from me again."

The people will reply, "We are returning to you,

because you are Yahweh, our God.

23 We did not get any help from the idols that we worshiped on the hilltops;

we did not get any help from making all that noise up there.

24 From the time when we were young, the shameful god Baal has taken away from us everything that our ancestors worked hard to acquire.

He has taken away their flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, their sons and their daughters.

25 So, now we should lie down feeling very ashamed [DOU],

because we and our ancestors have sinned against Yahweh our God,

and we have never obeyed him."