Nations Conspire Against Israel

1 A song: a psalm of Asaph. 2 God, do not keep silent. Do not hold Your peace, O God. Do not be still. 3 For look, Your enemies make an uproar. Those who hate You lift up their head. 4 They make a shrewd plot against Your people, conspiring against Your treasured ones. 5 “Come,” they say, “let’s wipe them out as a nation! Let Israel’s name be remembered no more!” 6 For with one mind they plot together. Against You do they make a covenant. 7 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, 8 Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre, 9 even Assyria has joined them, becoming a strong arm for Lot’s sons. Selah

10 Do to them as You did to Midian, to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River, 11 who perished at En-dor— they became as dung for the ground. 12 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb— all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, 13 who said, “Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God.” 14 My God, make them like tumbleweed, like chaff before the wind. 15 As a fire burns a forest, and as a flame sets mountains ablaze, 16 so pursue them with Your tempest, and terrify them with Your storm. 17 Cover their faces with shame, so they may seek Your Name—Adonai. 18 Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever. Let them be humiliated and perish. 19 Let them know that You alone —whose Name is Adonai— are El Elyon over all the earth. — Psalm 83 | Tree of Life Version (TLV) Tree of Life Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society. Cross References: Genesis 25:12; Exodus 6:3; Exodus 15:3; Exodus 19:18; Deuteronomy 2:9; Deuteronomy 32:22; Joshua 9:2; Joshua 13:5; Judges 4:7; Judges 4:15-16; judges 7:25; Judges 8:12; Judges 8:28; 1 Samuel 4:1; 1 Samuel 28:7; 2 Kings 15:19; 1 Chronicles 5:10; 2 Chronicles 20:11; Nehemiah 4:8; Esther 3:6; Job 9:17; Job 10:15; Job 21:18; Psalm 2:1-2; Psalm 18:42; Psalm 28:1; Psalm 35:4; Psalm 35:22; Psalm 41:5; Psalm 58:9; Psalm 109:29; Psalm 132:13; Jeremiah 8:2; Daniel 5:21; Daniel 6:7; Obadiah 1:11

The Redemption of Zion

A Prophecy of Doom Upon Syria and Israel

1 The message concerning Damascus. “See, Damascus ceases to be a city, and shall become a heap of ruins.

2 “The cities of Aro‛ĕr are forsaken, they are for flocks which shall lie down, with no one to frighten.

3 “And the stronghold shall cease from Ephrayim, and the reign from Damascus, and the remnant of Aram be as the esteem of the sons of Yisra’ĕl,” declares יהוה of hosts.

4 “And in that day it shall be that the esteem of Ya‛aqoḇ wanes, and the fatness of his flesh grows lean.

5 “And it shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain, and reaps the heads with his arm. And it shall be as he who gathers heads of grain in the Valley of Repha’im.

6 “And gleaning grapes shall be left in it, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives at the top of the uppermost branch, four or five in its most fruit-bearing branches,” declares יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl.

7 In that day man shall look to his Maker, and his eyes turn to the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl.

8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands; and he shall not see that which his own fingers made, nor the Ashĕrim nor the sun-pillars.

9 In that day his strong cities become like a forsaken forest and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Yisra’ĕl. And it shall become a ruin.

10 Because you have forgotten the Elohim of your deliverance, and have not remembered the Rock of your stronghold, therefore you shall plant pleasant plants and set out foreign seedlings,

11 by day make your plant to grow, and in the morning make your seed to flourish – but the harvest is a heap in the day of grief and incurable pain.

12 Woe to the uproar of many people who make a noise like the roar of the seas, and to the rushing of nations that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters –

13 nations rushing like the rushing of many waters. But He shall rebuke them and they shall flee far away, and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, like whirling dust before the whirlwind.

How Long, O Lord?

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 O god, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.

2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.

3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.

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

5 How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

6 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.

7 For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.

8 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.

9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.

10 Wherefore 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 thy servants which is shed.

11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;

12 And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.

13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations. — Psalm 79 | King James Version (KJV) The King James Version Bible is in the public domain. Cross References: Genesis 4:15; Deuteronomy 28:26; Deuteronomy 28:43; Deuteronomy 29:20; 2 Kings 25:9-10; 2 Chronicles 36:17; 2 Chronicles 36:19; Psalm 13:1; Psalm 21:3; Psalm 22:7; Psalm 25:5; Psalm 25:11; Psalm 39:8; Psalm 42:3; Psalm 100:3; Psalm 102:20 Isaiah 9:12; Isaiah 43:21; Jeremiah 14:16; Jeremiah 16:4; Luke 6:38; 1 Thessalonians 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; Revelation 6:10; Revelation 11:9

The study highlights how instrumental friendship was for describing and legitimising a range of political and legal engagements with foreign countries and nations. It emphasises contractual and political aspects in diplomatic friendship based on the idea of utility. It is these functions of the concept that help the world stick together when collective institutions are either embryonic or no more.

This is the first book-length study of the role that friendship plays in diplomacy and international politics. Through an examination of a vast amount of sources ranging from diplomatic letters and bilateral treaties, to poems and philosophical treatises, it analyses how friendship has been talked about and practised in pre-modern political orders and modern systems of international relations.

المزمور الثاسع والسبعون

مزموٌر. لآساف

١ اللهمَّ ان الامم قد دخلوا ميراثك. نجسوا هيكل قدسك. جعلوا اورشليم اكواماً.

٢ دفعوا جثث عبيدك طعاماً لطيور السماءِ. لحم اتقيائك لوحوش الارض.

٣ سفكوا دمهم كالماء حول اورشليم وليس مَنْ يدفن.

٤ صرنا عارًا عند جيراننا هزأً وسخرةً للذين حولنا.

٥ الى متي يا رب تغضب كل الغضب وتتقد كالنار غيرتك.

٦ افِض رجزك على الامم الذين لا يعرفونك وعلى الممالك التي لم تدعُ باسمك.

٧ لانهم قد اكلوا يعقوب واخربوا مسكنهُ

٨ لا تذكر علينا ذنوب الاَّولين. لتتقدمنا مراحمك سريعًا لاننا قد تذللنا جدًّا.

٩ أَعنَّا يا اله خلاصنا من اجل مجد اسمك ونجنا واغفر خطايانا من اجل اسمك.

١٠ لماذا يقول الامم اين هو الههم. لتُعرَف عند الامم قدام اعيننا نقمة دم عبيدك المهراق.

١١ ليدخل قدامك انين الاسير. كعظمة ذراعك استبقِ بني الموت.

١٢ ورُدَّ على جيراننا سبعة اضعافٍ في احضانهم العار الذي عيروك بهِ يا رب.

١٣ اما نحن شعبك وغنم رعيتك نحمدك الى الدهر. الى دورٍ فدور نحدث بتسبيحك

(1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;    they have defiled your holy temple,    they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble. 2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants    as food for the birds of the sky,    the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild. 3 They have poured out blood like water    all around Jerusalem,    and there is no one to bury the dead. 4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,    of scorn and derision to those around us.

5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?    How long will your jealousy burn like fire? 6 Pour out your wrath on the nations    that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms    that do not call on your name; 7 for they have devoured Jacob    and devastated his homeland.

8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;    may your mercy come quickly to meet us,    for we are in desperate need. 9 Help us, God our Savior,    for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins    for your name’s sake. 10 Why should the nations say,    “Where is their God?”

Afghan govt. frees 400 Taliban prisoners ahead of Doha talks

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The Afghanistan government said on Thursday it had released 400 Taliban prisoners under an exchange deal with the militants, except for “a few” opposed by foreign nations, and expected peace negotiations to start soon.

The two warring sides are set to launch direct talks in Qatar, tying up the end of a contentious and months-long prisoner exchange.

Kabul has already sent a logistical…