A Call to Fear God

(Ecclesiastes 8:10–13)

For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:

12 

“ Do not call conspiracy

everything these people regard as conspiracy.

Do not fear what they fear;[fn]

do not live in dread.[fn]

13 

The LORD of Hosts is the One

you shall regard as holy.

Only He should be feared;

only He should be dreaded.

14 

And He will be a sanctuary —

but to both houses of Israel

a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,[fn]

to the dwellers of Jerusalem

a trap and a snare.

15 

Many will stumble over these;

they will fall and be broken;

they will be ensnared and captured.”

16 

Bind up the testimony

[and] seal the law among my disciples.

17 

I will wait for the LORD,

who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob.

I will put my trust in Him.[fn]

18 

Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me[fn] as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

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