1618 verses about Faith

Because he is found of those who tempt him not, And is manifested to those who do not distrust him.

As gold in the furnace he proved them, And as a whole burnt offering he accepted them.

They that trust on him will understand truth, And the faithful will abide with him in love; Because grace and mercy are to his chosen.

For when men believe not that you are perfect in power, you show your strength, And in dealing with those who know it you put their boldness to confusion.

And it is your will that the works of your wisdom should be not idle; Therefore also do men intrust their lives to a little piece of wood,, And passing through the surge on a raft are brought safe to land.

For putting their trust in lifeless idols, When they have sworn a wicked oath, they expect not to suffer harm.

That your sons, whom you loved, O Lord, might learn That it is not the growth of the earth’s fruits that nourishes a man, But that your word preserves those who trust you.

Of that night were our fathers made aware beforehand, That, having sure knowledge, they might be cheered by the oaths which they had trusted:

For in all things, O Lord, you did magnify your people, And you did glorify them and not lightly regard them; Standing by their side in every time and place.

To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; And it was created together with the faithful in the womb.

For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and instruction; And in faith and meekness is his good pleasure.

For gold is tried in the fire, And acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation.

Put your trust in him, and he will help you: Order your ways aright, and set your hope on him.

You⌃ that fear the Lord, put your trust in him; And your reward will not fail.

Look at the generations of old, and see: Who did ever put his trust in the Lord, and was ashamed? Or who did abide in his fear, and was forsaken? Or who did call upon him, and he despised him?

Woe to the faint heart! for it believes not; Therefore will it not be defended.

Confirm your word, and keep faith with him; And at all seasons you shall find what you need.

A man of understanding will put his trust in the law; And the law is faithful to him, as when one asks at the oracle.

And let them know you, as we also have known you, That there is no God but only you, O God.

Give reward to those who wait for you: And men shall put their trust in your prophets.

He played with lions as with kids, And with bears as with lambs of the flock.

In his youth did he not kill a giant, And take away reproach from the people, When he lifted up his hand with a sling stone, And beat down the boasting of Goliath?

For he called upon the Most High Lord; And he gave him strength in his right hand, To kill a man mighty in war, To exalt the horn of his people.

For I have trusted in the Everlasting, that he will save you; and joy is come to me from the Holy One, because of the mercy which shall soon come to you from the Everlasting your Saviour.

They walked in the midst of the fire, praising God, and blessing the Lord.

Then Azarias stood, and prayed on this manner; and opening his mouth in the midst of the fire said,

But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace together with Azarias and his fellows, and he struck the flame of the fire out of the furnace;

and made the midst of the furnace as it had been a moist whistling wind, so that the fire touched them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled them.

And she weeping looked up toward heaven: for her heart trusted in the Lord.

And from that day forth was Daniel had in great reputation in the sight of the people.

But give me leave, O king, and I shall kill this dragon without sword or staff. The king said, I give you leave.

And Habakkuk said, Lord, I never saw Babylon; neither do I know where the den is.

In those days rose up Mattathias the son of John, the son of Simeon, a priest of the sons of Joarib, from Jerusalem; and he lived at Modin.

And Mattathias answered and said with a loud voice, If all the nations that are in the house of the king’s dominion hearken to him, to fall away each one from the worship of his fathers, and have made choice to follow his commandments,

And call to remembrance the deeds of our fathers which they did in their generations; and receive great glory and an everlasting name.

Was not Abraham found faithful in temptation, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness?

Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, believed, and were saved out of the flame.

Daniel for his innocency was delivered from the mouth of lions.

And thus consider you⌃ from generation to generation, that none that put their trust in him shall lack for strength.

And his son Judas, who was called Maccabaeus, rose up in his stead.

And Seron, the commander of the army of Syria, heard say that Judas had gathered a gathering and a congregation of faithful men with him, and of such as went out to war;

But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas, What? shall we be able, being a small company, to fight against so great and strong a multitude? and we for our part are faint, having tasted no food this day.

And Judas said, It is an easy thing for many to be shut up in the hands of a few; and with heaven it is all one, to save by many or by few:

for victory in battle stands not in the multitude of an army; but strength is from heaven.

and they said each man to his neighbor, Let us raise up the ruin of our people, and let us fight for our people and the holy place.

And the congregation was gathered together, that they might be ready for battle, and that they might pray, and ask for mercy and compassion.

And Judas said, Gird yourselves, and be valiant men, and be in readiness against the morning, that you⌃ may fight with these Gentiles, that are assembled together against us to destroy us, and our holy place:

Remember how our fathers were saved in the Red sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with an army.

shut up this army in the hand of your people Israel, and let them be ashamed for their army and their horsemen:

And Simon went into Galilee, and fought many battles with the Gentiles, and the Gentiles were discomfited before him.

And Judas encamped in Adasa with three thousand men: and Judas prayed and said,

And now continue you⌃ still to keep faith with us, and we will recompense to you good things in return for your dealings with us,

And he put his trust in him, and did even as he said, and sent away his forces, and they departed into the land of Judah.

and the people saw the faith of Simon, and the glory which he thought to bring to his nation, and they made him their leader and high priest, because he had done all these things, and for the justice and the faith which he kept to his nation, and for that he sought by all means to exalt his people:

Written in the hundred fourscore and eighth year. THEY that are in Jerusalem and those who are in Judea and the senate and Judas, to Aristobulus, king Ptolemy’s teacher, who is also of the stock of the anointed priests, and to the Jews that are in Egypt, send greeting and health.

and the manifestations that came from heaven to those that vied with one another in manful deeds for the religion of the Jews; so that, being but a few, they rescued the whole country, and chased the barbarous multitudes,

and that it was altogether impossible that wrong should be done to them that had put trust in the holiness of the place, and in the majesty and inviolable sanctity of the temple, honored over all the world.

But he, welcoming death with renown rather than life with pollution, advanced of his own accord to the instrument of torture, but first spat forth the flesh,

And when he was utterly maimed, the king commanded to bring him to the fire, being yet alive, and to fry him in the pan. And as the vapor of the pan spread far, they and their mother also exhorted one another to die nobly, saying thus:

And when he was at the last gasp, he said, You, miscreant, do release us out of this present life, but the King of the world shall raise up us, who have died for his laws, to an eternal renewal of life.

And after him was the third made a mocking-stock. And when he was required, he quickly put out his tongue, and stretched forth his hands courageously,

and nobly said, From heaven I possess these; and for his laws’ sake I contemn these; and from him I hope to receive these back again:

insomuch that the king himself and those who were with him were astonished at the young man’s soul, for that he nothing regarded the pains.

And next after him they brought the fifth, and shamefully handled him.

But above all was the mother marvelous and worthy of honorable memory; for when she looked on seven sons perishing within the space of one day, she bare the sight with a good courage for the hopes that she had set on the Lord.

But before she had yet ended speaking, the young man said, Whom wait you⌃ for? I obey not the commandment of the king, but I hearken to the commandment of the law that was given to our fathers through Moses.

So he also died pure from pollution, putting his whole trust in the Lord.

But Judas, who is also called Maccabaeus, and those who were with him, making their way privily into the villages, called to them their kinsfolk; and taking to them such as had continued in the Jews’ religion, gathered together as many as six thousand.

For they, said he, trust to arms, and withal to deeds of daring; but we trust on the almighty God, since he is able at a beck to cast down those who are coming against us, and even the whole world.

And moreover he recounted to them the help given from time to time in the days of their ancestors, both the help given in the days of Sennacherib, how that a hundred fourscore and five thousand perished,

And when he had with these words made them of good courage, and ready to die for the laws and their country, he divided his army into four parts;

and moreover Eleazer also: then, having read aloud the sacred book, and having given as watchword, THE HELP OF GOD, leading the first band himself, he joined battle with Nicanor.

For I am persuaded that he in gentleness and kindness will follow my purpose and treat you with indulgence.

And when the dawn was now spreading, the two armies joined battle; the one part having this, beside their virtue, for a pledge of success and victory, that they had fled to the Lord for refuge, the others making their passion their leader in the strife.

But Judas and his company, calling upon the great sovereign of the world, who without rams and cunning engines of war hurled down Jericho in the times of Joshua, rushed wildly against the wall;

and then in the language of his fathers he raised the battle-cry joined with hymns, and rushing unawares upon the troops of Gorgias put them to flight.

But when Judas heard of these things, he gave charge to the multitude to call upon the Lord day and night, beseeching him, if ever at any other time, so now to succour those who were at the point to be deprived of the law and their country and the holy temple,

And having gone apart with the elders he resolved that, before the king’s army should enter into Judea and make themselves masters of the city, they should go forth and try the matter in fight by the help of God.

but Maccabaeus still trusted unceasingly, with all hope that he should obtain help from the Lord.

And he exhorted his company not to be fearful at the inroad of the heathen, but, keeping in mind the help which of old they had oftentimes received from heaven, so now also to look for the victory which would come to them from the Almighty;

and comforting them out of the law and the prophets, and withal putting them in mind of the conflicts that they had maintained, he made them more eager for the battle.

And arming each one of them, not so much with the sure defence of shields and spears as with the encouragement that lies in good words, and moreover relating to them a dream worthy to be believed, he made them all exceeding glad.

And being encouraged by the words of Judas, which were of a lofty strain, and able to incite to virtue and to stir the souls of the young to manly courage, they determined not to carry on a campaign, but nobly to bear down upon the enemy, and fighting hand to hand with all courage bring the matter to an issue, because the city and the sanctuary and the temple were in danger.

Maccabaeus, perceiving the presence of the troops, and the various arms with which they were equipped, and the savageness of the elephants, holding up his hands to heaven called upon the Lord that works wonders, recognising that success comes not by arms, but that, according as the Lord shall judge, he gaineth the victory for those who are worthy.

but Judas and his company joined battle with the enemy with invocation and prayers.

For we had said to the king, that the power of our Lord would be with those who seek him, to support them in all ways.

But I drew his own sword and beheaded him, and removed reproach from the children of Israel.

And you rolled the depths of the sea over him, when he made pursuit with chariots, and with a multitude of followers, and gave a safe passage to those who put their trust in you, the Lord of the whole creation.

A nobler spirit, however, prompted the majority to cling to their religious observances, and by paying money that they might live unmolested, these sought to escape the registration:

O king, how long do you make trial of us, as of men bereft of reason? This is the third time that you have ordered their destruction. When the thing is to be done, you change your mind, and recall your instructions.

When the three friends in the land of Babylon of their own will exposed their lives to the fire rather than serve vain things, you did send a dewy coolness through the fiery furnace, and bring the fire upon all their adversaries.

Your houses will I give to a people that shall come; which not having heard of me yet believe me; they to whom I have showed no signs shall do that which I have commanded.

I take to witness the grace of the people that shall come, whose little ones rejoice with gladness: and though they see me not with bodily eyes, yet in spirit they shall believe the thing that I say.

So he answered and said to me, It is the Son of God, whom they have confessed in the world. Then began I greatly to commend those who stood so stiffly for the name of the Lord.

Nevertheless as concerning the tokens, behold, the days shall come, that they which dwell upon earth shall be taken with great amazement, and the way of truth shall be hidden, and the land shall be barren of faith.

Then said he to me, Just as you can do none of these things that I have spoken of, even so can you not find out my judgement, or the end of the love that I have promised to my people.

and ere the present years were sought out, and or ever the imaginations of those who now sin were estranged, before they were sealed that have gathered faith for a treasure:

and faith shall flourish, and corruption shall be overcome, and the truth, which has been so long without fruit, shall be declared.

but judgement only shall remain, truth shall stand, and faith shall wax strong:

The third way, they shall see the reward laid up for those who have believed the covenants of the Most High.