So don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” In this way, Joseph said nice things to his brothers. This made his brothers feel good.
Even when Saul was our king, you were the one who led us into battle. And you were the one who brought Israel back home from war. And the Lord himself said to you, ‘You will be the shepherd of my people, the Israelites. You will be the ruler over Israel.’”
Our enemies were only trying to make us afraid. They are thinking to themselves, “The Jews will be afraid and too weak to keep on working. Then the wall won’t be finished.”
Shepherd of Israel, please listen to me.\par You lead Joseph’s sheep (people).\par You sit as king on the Cherub angels. {\cf2\super [459]} \par Let us see you.\par
Because of all these things, the Master, the Lord All-Powerful, the Mighty One of Israel, says, “I will punish you, my enemies. You will not cause me any more trouble.
Because of those things, the Lord my Master says, “I will put a rock—a cornerstone—in the ground in Zion. {\cf2\super [259]} This will be a very precious stone. {\cf2\super [260]} Everything will be built on this very important rock. Any person that trusts \{in that rock\} will not be disappointed.
Don’t worry, I am with you.\par Don’t be afraid, I am your God.\par I will make you strong.\par I will help you.\par I will support you with my good\par right hand.\par
“Those people hurt you.\par But I will force those people\par to eat their own bodies.\par Their own blood will be\par the wine that makes them drunk.\par Then every person will know that\par the Lord saved you.\par All people will know that\par the Powerful One of Jacob saved you.”\par
Nations \{will give you everything you need\}.\par It will be like a child\par drinking milk from its mother.\par But you will ‘drink’ riches from kings.\par Then you will know that it is I, the Lord,\par who saves you.\par You will know that the Great God of Jacob protects you.\par
Look, I put a special stone\par in front of Joshua.\par There are seven sides {\cf2\super [5]} on that stone.\par I will carve a special message on\par on that special stone.\par That will show that in one day,\par I will remove the guilt from this land.”\par
You cannot judge another person’s servant. His own master decides if he is doing right or wrong. And the Lord’s servant will be right, because the Lord is able to make him right.
You believers are like a building that God owns. That building was built on the foundation that the apostles {\cf2\super [15]} and prophets {\cf2\super [16]} prepared. Christ himself is the most important stone {\cf2\super [17]} in that building.
God lives forever.
He is your place of safety.
God’s power continues forever!
He is protecting you.
God will force your enemies
to leave your land.
He will say,
‘Destroy the enemy!’
Moses had put his hands on Joshua {and appointed him to be the new leader}. Then Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom. So the people of Israel began to obey Joshua. They did the things that the Lord had commanded Moses.
that God will strengthen you with his\par own great power;\par that God will strengthen you,\par so that you will be patient\par and not quit when troubles come.\par
But the Lord stayed with me. The Lord gave me strength so that I could tell the Good News {\cf2\super [23]} everywhere. The Lord wanted all the non-Jews to hear that Good News. So I was saved from the lion’s (enemy’s) mouth.
You will take the hill country. It is a forest, but you can cut down the trees and make it a good place to live. And you will own all of it. You will force the Canaanite people to leave that land. You will defeat them even if they are strong and have powerful weapons.”