BRAGADAYJAH 593

BRAGADAYJAH 593

Invasion

Not only were manifold curses and hardship foreshadowed to them who disobeyed, but also the promise of invasion; for God warned; “The Lord shall bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue you shall not understand; a nation of fierce countenance who shall have no regard for the person of the old nor show favor to the young; and he shall eat the fruit of the land and the fruit of your cattle until you are destroyed; and you will be left with neither grain nor wine nor oil nor the increase of your young ones of your flocks and your sheep until you are left with nothing. And he shall besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified cities fall down, and he shall also besiege you in all your borders and utterly destroy you.”

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BRAGADAYJAH 592

into captivity. All your fruit and the fruit of the land shall be consumed by locusts. More

BRAGADAYJAH 592

Further Warnings and Examples of the Curse

Not only would you not prosper said the Lord, but you shall sink very low.  The stranger within your gate shall rise up high above you, and you will sink very low.  Instead of your lending to him, you shall borrow from him. And instead of you being the head and he the bottom, he will be the head and you the bottom.  In addition all these curses shall come upon you and pursue you, and overtake you and destroy you, because you fail to listen to the voice of the Lord your God; and they shall be upon you for a sign and a token because you did not delight in the service of the Lord you God to do and to keep His commandments.

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BRAGADAYJAH 591

BRAGADAYJAH 591

In addition, the Lord shall bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known and there shall you serve other gods made of wood and stone; and you shall become an astonishment, a proverb and a byword among the nations to which the Lord shall lead you.  You shall carry much seed out into the field, and gather bur little in; for the locusts shall consume it. You shall plant vineyards and dress them; but shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes for the worms shall eat them.  You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders; but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olive trees shall yield no fruit. You shall have sons and daughters; but you shall not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. All your fruit and the fruit of the land shall be consumed by locusts. More

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BRAGADAYJAH 590

BRAGADAYJAH 590

More Warnings of Multiple Curses

Furthermore, you shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her, and you shall build a house and you shall not well therein; you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not gather the grapes thereof. Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat thereof; your ass shall be violently taken before your face and it shall not be restored to you.  Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to rescue them. Your sons and your daughters shall be given unto another people and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in your hand. The fruit of your land and all your labors shall a nation whom you do not know eat up; and you shall be oppressed and crushed always. The Lord shall smite you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil that cannot be healed from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.  More

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BRAGADAYJAH 589

BRAGADAYJAH 589

Curses Continued

Moreover say the Lord, “The heaven above you shall be like brass, and the earth that is under you shall be as iron; and the Lord shall make the rain of the land powder and dust, it shall come down from heaven upon you until you are destroyed. The Lord shall cause you to be smitten before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven days before them, and shall be removed from all the kingdoms of the earth; and your carcass shall be food for the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the earth, and no man shall drive them away.  The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors, and scabs, and itch from which you shall not be healed.  The Lord will smite you with madness and blindness and sadness of heart; and you shall grope at high noon as the blind grope in darkness; and you will not prosper in your ways and you shall be oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save you. More.

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BRAGADAYJAH 588

BRAGADAYJAH 588

In Contrast to Blessings, Many Curses Pronounced

For thus says the Lord, “If you will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God to do all His commandments, that all these curses shall come upon you.  You shall be cursed in the city, and cursed in the field; cursed in the fruit basket, and cursed in the kneading trough; cursed in the fruit of your womb, and cursed in the fruit of the land, and of the herds and the flocks; cursed shall you be when you go out, and when you come in.  The Lord shall send upon you cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that you set your hand to do, until you be destroyed and until you perish quickly because of the wickedness of your doings, in that you have forsaken His ways. The Lord shall make the pestilence cling to you until you are consumed from the land. The Lord shall smite you with consumption and with a fever and with an inflammation and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew, and they shall pursue you until you perish.  More

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BRAGADAYJAH 587

BRAGADAYJAH 587

Further Expansion of the Blessings

And the Lord shall command the blessings on you in your storehouses, and in all you set your hands to; and He shall bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. The Lord shall establish you as a holy people unto Himself as He has sworn unto you. If you keep His commandments and walk in His ways. And all the rest of the people of the earth shall see that the Lord is with you, and be afraid of you. And the Lord shall make you plenteous in goods; in the fruit of the body, and in the fruits of your cattle, and in the fruit of the ground, in the land which the Lord you God gives you to possess. The Lord shall open unto you His good treasure; the heavens to give the rain unto the land in its season, and you shall have sufficient to lend to all nations and never having to borrow. And you shall always be at the head and never the tail, if you keep my commandments. If you do not turn aside from my commandments which I command you to go after other Gods.

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BRAGADAYJAH 586

BRAGADAYJAH 586

Having pronounced twelve curses, or rather sins that bring about a curse, and the things which brought blessings are declared. “And it shall come to pass if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.”  And all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee if you shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. “Blessed shall thou be in the city, and blessed shall thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of the ground, and of the cattle, the increase of the cows, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed be the basket and the kneading tough. And blessed shall thou be when thou come in, and blessed shall thou be when thou go out.

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BRAGADAYJAH 585

BRAGADAYJAH 585

More Curses Declared

Cursed be he that causes the blind to wander out of the way; and all the people shall say, Amen! Curse be he that perverts the justice due to the stranger, the fatherless and the widow; and all the people shall say, Amen! Curse be he who lies with his father’s wife; because he uncovers his father’s skirt; and all the people shall say, Amen!  Curse be he that lies with any kind of beast; and all the people shall say, Amen!  Cursed be he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother; and all the people shall say, Amen!  Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law; and all the people shall say, Amen!  Cursed be he who smites his neighbor secretly; and all the people shall say, Amen!  Cursed be he who takes reward to slay an innocent person; and all the people shall say, Amen! Cursed be he who does not conform to all the words of the law to do them; and all the people shall say, Amen!www.chaberbooks.com

BRAGADAYJAH 584

BRAGADAYJAH 584

Blessings and Curses from Ebal and Gerizim

And Moses and the priests, the Levites spoke unto all Israel and said Take heed and hearken O Israel this day, you have become the people of the Lord your God.  You shall therefore obey the voice of the Lord your God, and do His commandments and his statutes which I command you this day. And Moses charged the people and said. “These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar Joseph and Benjamin; and these shall stand upon Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali. And the Levites shall speak and say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice, Curse be the man who makes any carved or melted image, an abomination; the work of the hands of the craftsman and puts it in a sacred place; and all the people shall answer and say Amen. More

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BRAGADAYJAH 583

BRAGADAYJAH 583

Blessings and Curses for Obedience/Disobedience

Now Moses and the Elders commanded the people and instructed them to keep all the commandments of the Lord. “And when you pass over the Jordan and enter the land of promise, you shall set yourself up great stones and plaster them with plaster and write upon them all the words of the law, so that when you would have crossed over the Jordan and enter into the land which the Lord your God promised to give you, there on Mount Ebal shall thou build an altar unto the Lord your God, made of whole stones, so that no metal tool is lifted up, and there offer burnt offerings and peace offerings, and thou shalt eat there and rejoice before the Lord your God and thou shall write on the stones plainly all the words of the law.

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BRAGADAYJAH 582

BRAGADAYJAH 582

The Ceremony of the First Fruits Offering (continued)

“And thou Lord brought us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and now, behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land which thou O Lord has given me.” So now I set it before the Lord my God, and worship before the Lord my God. And I rejoice in every good thing which the Lord my God gives to me, and all the congregation of His house in the company of the Levites and the sojourner within our gates.”

“Then shall thou say before the Lord your God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them unto the Levites and unto the sojourner and unto the fatherless and the widow according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me, I have not transgressed thy commandments neither have I forgotten them. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken anything way thereof for any unclean use, nor given anything thereof for the dead; but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. More

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BRAGADAYJAH 581

BRAGADAYJAH 581

The Law of the Offering of First Fruits

When you are dwelling in the land which the Lord your God gives to you, you shall take of the first fruits of the land and put it in a basket and go into the appointed place of the Lord and offer it there.  On entering there, the basket of fruit shall be given to the priest with the words, “I profess this day unto the Lord your God that I am come unto the country which the Lord swore unto our fathers to give us.”  And the priest shall take the basket and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. Then shall you speak again and say, “A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt and sojourn there with a few, and became there a nation great, mighty, and populous.  And the Egyptians badly treated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage. And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked upon our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression.  And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, and with awe-inspiring terror, and with signs, and with wonders.” 
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BRAGADAYJAH 580

BRAGADAYJAH 580

God's Demand for Justice

If there be a controversy between men and they come before the judges for judgment, then the judges shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. And if it shall be that the wicked man deserves to be beaten, the judges shall cause him to lie down and beat him before his face according to his fault by a certain number. Forty stripes they may give him and not more; for if he be given more, he may see his brother as vile. The ox that grinds the corn shall not be muzzled. If brethren dwell together and one of them die, and have no children, the wife of the dead man shall not marry without to a stranger; her husband's brother shall go in unto her and take her to him for wife and perform the duty of a husband unto her.

And it shall be that the first born which she bears shall bear the name of the brother who is dead that his name shall not cease out of Israel. But if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife then he should allow her to go up to the gate unto the elders and tell them that her husband's brother has refused to raise up children for his brother a name. And then the elders shall call him and speak to him and if he states that he will not take her, then the widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and loose the shoe from off his feet and spit in his face and set him free from his obligation to his brother, and he shall thereafter be known as the house of the man does not sustain his brother's house.

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BRAGADAYJAH 579

BRAGADAYJAH 579

Further Acts of Benevolence and Mercy

In addition said the Lord: The father shall not be put to death for the wrongdoing of his children, neither should the children be punished for the wrongdoing of their father; for every man shall bear his own sin. The course of justice must not be perverted; nor the fatherless not the widow; and not take a widow’s clothing for pledge. For you should remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, and it was the Lord your God who redeemed you out from there; therefore I command you to remember this.  When you cut down your harvest in the field, and has forgotten a sheave there, do not return to retrieve it.  Leave it there for the fatherless and the widow, that the Lord may bless you.  When you beat your olive trees, do not go over the boughs again to make pure that nothing is left behind; anything left behind is for the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow. When you gather the grapes from your vineyard do not glean it afterwards; whatever is missed is for the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow; for remember you were once a slave in Egypt before the Lord God delivered you with a mighty hand.

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BRAGADAYJAH 578

BRAGADAYJAH 578

Mercy Towards the Poor

The Lord commanded that when you lend anything to one of your neighbor, you are not to go into his house to fetch it out; instead, wait outside until he brings it out to you.  And if he is poor, you must not sleep with his pledge if it is something he needs to keep him warm or to cover himself with or lie on; in any such case you must return it to him before the sun goes down that he may sleep with his own raiment and bless you and so the Lord would hold you righteous in His sight. Do not oppress the hired servant who is poor and needy, be it be one of your brethren, or a stranger who is dwelling in the land. Or within your gate.  At the appointed time you must pay him his wages before the sun goes down; for he is poor and sets his heart upon his wages, so that he does not cry unto the Lord and it be counted sin against you.

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BRAGADAYJAH 577

BRAGADAYJAH 577

Further Regulations about Forgiveness and Mercy

So now the Lord commanded, when a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out to War, neither shall be charged with any business, but he shall be free at home for one year to give cheer to his wife whom he has taken.  No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone to pledge, for he takes a man’s life to pledge.  If a man be found stealing any of the brethren of the children of Israel and makes merchandise of him or sells him, then that man shall be put to death, so that evil may be put away.  Take heed in the plague of leprosy, and observe diligently and do all the priests and Levites shall teach you to do; as they have been commanded to do, you also must do as they command you.

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BRAGADAYJAH 576

BRAGADAYJAH 576

The Mosaic Law of Divorce

When a man marries a wife, and he eventually stops loving her, because he has found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and put it in her hand and send her out of his house.  And when she is gone, she may go and be another man’s wife.  And if the latter husband also hates her, and writes her a bill of divorcement and gives it to her in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the second husband dies, her former husband may not take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled for that is abomination before the Lord and would bring sin into the land.

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BRAGADAYJAH 575

BRAGADAYJAH 575

Instructions Regarding Vows, and Necessity.

And when you make a vow unto the Lord your God, you must not be slack to keep it; for the Lord your God will require it of you, and it would be a sin not to perform it. But if you shall refuse to make the vow in the first place, that would be no sin in doing so. Whatever you have vowed with your mouth you must be careful to perform it, even if it is a freewill offering which you promise to the Lord your God, you must be careful to perform it.

When you come upon your neighbors vineyard, you may eat grapes to your full; but you must not gather and carry any away. And when you come upon the standing grain of your neighbor, then you may puck the ears with your hands; but you must not move a sickle into your neighbors standing grain.

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BRAGADAYJAH 574

BRAGADAYJAH 574

Uncleanness Forbidden

When the host goes forth against the enemy, keep yourself from every unclean thing. If there is among you any man that is not clean be reason of uncleanness that came upon him by night, then he shall go abroad out of the camp; he shall not come within the camp.  But when the evening approaches, he shall wash himself with water and when the evening is come, he shall enter into the camp.  Also thou shalt have a place outside the camp where you go abroad; and thou shalt have a shovel with you and when you ease yourself you shall cover it up. For the Lord your God walks in the midst of the camp to save you and to deliver up your enemies to your hands; therefore the camp shall be holy.  If you find a slave who has ran away from his master, do not deliver him up to him, but let him dwell with you in the place he finds refuge and you must not oppress him.. There shall be no harlots of the daughters of Israel and no sodomite among her sons. Thou shall not bring any of the hire of a harlot, or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow; both are an abomination unto the Lord thy God.

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BRAGADAYJAH 573

BRAGADAYJAH 573

Regulations against Certain People

He who is wounded in the stones or who has his private member cut off shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord even unto his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord.  An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord even unto their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever. Because they met you not with bread and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor, of Mesopotamia to curse you, even though the Lord your God did not hearken unto Balaam, but tuned the curse into a blessing because the Lord your God loves you. Do not seek to make peace with them ever.  You must not abhor an Edomite, because he is your brother.  You must not abhor the Egyptian, because you were once a sojourner in his land.

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BRAGADAYJAH 572

BRAGADAYJAH 572

Punishment for Infidelity

If a girl who is a virgin is betrothed unto a husband and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, then both of them shall be stoned with stones so that they die. The damsel is punished because she did not cry out for help or otherwise resist, and the man because he has humbled his neighbor’s wife.  But if a man meets a damsel in the field and forces himself on her and lies with her, then the man alone shall be put to death; but unto the damsel shall nothing be done; for she has committed no sin worthy of death. Just as when a man rises up against his neighbor and slays him, so is the man he assaults a damsel in the field. But if a man finds in the field a damsel who has not been betrothed and lies with her, then he shall pay unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not put her away all the days of his life.

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BRAGADAYJAH 570

BRAGADAYJAH 570

The Law of Brotherhood and Female Garb

God commanded that if you see any of your neighbor’s goods such as his animals going astray, you must not ignore them, but must take hold of them and take them to him or tether them in your yard until he comes seeking after them.  Likewise if you find any of his other goods such as his clothing or other belongings you shall keep them for him and not conceal them, ignore them or hide them from him.

The Lord also commanded that a woman shall not put on garments belonging to a man neither should a man put on that which pertains to a woman; all such says the Lord is abomination in His sight.

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BRAGADAYJAH 569

BRAGADAYJAH 569

A Man with Two Wives

If a man has two wives and one is loved and the other hated, and they have both borne him children, then if the firstborn son be of the hated wife, then when that man provides inheritance for his children, he shall not make the son of his beloved wife to inherit as his heir instead of the son who was indeed the firstborn. He shall acknowledge the son of the hated wife as the firstborn as indeed he is. And if a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father and his mother, and when they chasten him he will not listen, then they shall lay hold on him and take him unto he elders of the city, and lay a complaint to them against their son and the elders of the city shall stone him to death. And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is hanged upon a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree that the land may not be defiled.

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BRAGADAYJAH 568

BRAGADAYJAH 568

Domestic Regulations.

The last episode as may be seen, sheds light on what is often misquoted as the sixth commandment which says, “thou shall not kill;” but kill is not the best or even a good translation of what God says to us which is “Thou shall not shed innocent blood, or thou shall not commit murder,” which as most of us know is a vastly different think from kill.

Be that as it may, the Lord now gives directions regarding the treatment of certain captives.  For instance He says, if you capture a beautiful woman and you desire to make her your wife, then she shall be taken to your house where she must first shave her head and cut her nails, after which she shall rid herself of her captive garments and remain in your house for a full month, during which she shall be allowed to weep over the loss of her father and her mother, after which you may consummate a marriage with her and she shall be your wife. And if she does not please you and you are of a mind to let her go, then she shall be free to go wherever she will and shall not be sold by you, because you have humiliated her.

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BRAGADAYJAH 567

BRAGADAYJAH 567

Inquest for the Slain

If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God give thee to possess, lying in the field, and it is not known who has slain him, then the elders and the judges shall come forth and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about the slain, and it shall be that the city which is nearest the slain man, and the elders of that city shall take a young calf which has not worked or borne a yoke, and the elders shall take the heifer into a rough valley, and behead it there. And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near because the Lord has chosen them and they shall try every question concerning the matter; and all the elders of that city shall wash their hands over the heifer, and they shall answer and say, “Our hands have not shed this blood neither have our eyes seen it.  Be merciful or Lord unto thy people Israel whom thou has redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to the charge of thy people.”  That there be put away from among the people the shedding of innocent blood.

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BRAGADAYJAH 566

BRAGADAYJAH 566

Final Instructions as to War.

Anyone does not understand the mind of God and in particular God’s absolute aversion to sin, may have a difficult time reconciling with what follows.  But God’s instructions to his people with regard to the treatment of the conquered nations is best understood in light of  God’s desire to have his people absolutely separated from the ways of sinful men and evil people.  So God instructed His people, to deal with the cities that they conquer with absolute severity to the end that they “destroy everything that breathe.”  “Thou shalt utterly destroy them, namely, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord has commanded you.”

and here comes the rationale; ”that they teach you not to do after all their abomination which they have done unto their gods, and cause you to sin against your God.”

“When you besiege a city over a long period of time, in the course of making war against it in order to take it, thou shall not destroy the fruit trees by cutting them down with axes, that you may eat of them during the siege. Only the trees which you know are not fruit trees may you cut down and use for strengthening your defenses against the city until it is subdued.

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BRAGADAYJAH 565

BRAGADAYJAH 565

The Law of Warfare [continued]

We may conclude from what has gone before, that the battle is not for the faint of heart, or for the distracted.  So if you are going to war, and pining for the new bride you left behind, or for the new wine you have not tasted, or the new house you have not lived in, stay behind or go home instructed the LORD.  In other words, whatever you do your heart must be in it.

And when the officers have finished addressing the people, they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.  And further when the army come upon a city to fight against it, they were first to declare peace upon it; and if the inhabitants of that city shall accept terms of peace, then they shall become bond servants unto you and serve you. But if they decline your offer of peace then surround it and besiege it.  And when the LORD your God shall deliver that city unto you,  you shall smite all the males with the edge of the sword; but the women and the children and the cattle and everything in the city shall be spoils to you, and you shall eat of the spoils that the LORD has given unto you.

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BRAGADAYJAH 564

BRAGADAYJAH 564

The Law Concerning Warfare

The Lord commanded and said, When you go out to battle, against your enemies, and see horses, and chariots, and a people more numerous than you, be not afraid of them; for the Lord thy God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt is with thee.  And it shall be when you draw near unto the battle that the priests shall appear and speak unto the people and shall say to them, Hear O Israel, you approach this day unto battle against your enemies. Let not your hearts faint nor fear; do not tremble nor be terrified because of them; for the Lord your God is He who goes with you to fight with you against your enemies to save you. And the officers shall speak to the people saying, what man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house lest he dies in battle, and another man dedicates it. And what man is he that planted a vineyard and has not yet eaten of it. Let him return to his house lest he dies in battle and another man eats of it. And what man is there who has betrothed  a wife and not yet taken her?  Let him return to his house lest he dies and another man takes her.  And the officer shall speak further unto the people and say, what man is there among you who is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return to his house, lest his brethren’s heart fail as well as his.”

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