25 Bible Verses About Elam (NIV)

¹ An oracle concerning Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.

¹ An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: ² Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles. ³ I have commanded my holy ones; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath- those who rejoice in my triumph. ⁴ Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together! The LORD Almighty is mustering an army for war. ⁵ They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens- the LORD and the weapons of his wrath- to destroy the whole country. ⁶ Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. ⁷ Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man's heart will melt. ⁸ Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame. ⁹ See, the day of the LORD is coming -a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger- to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. ¹⁰ The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. ¹¹ I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. ¹² I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. ¹³ Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger. ¹⁴ Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land. ¹⁵ Whoever is captured will be thrust through; all who are caught will fall by the sword. ¹⁶ Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives ravished. ¹⁷ See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold. ¹⁸ Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children. ¹⁹ Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians' pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁰ She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flocks there. ²¹ But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about. ²² Hyenas will howl in her strongholds, jackals in her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.

¹ In that day you will say: "I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. ² Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." ³ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴ In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. ⁵ Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. ⁶ Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

¹² He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.

¹¹ In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

¹ The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. ² Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. ³ The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." ⁴ Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. ⁵ Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. ⁶ From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness- only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil. ⁷ Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers. ⁸ The Daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a city under siege. ⁹ Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah. ¹⁰ Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! ¹¹ "The multitude of your sacrifices- what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. ¹² When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? ¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations- I cannot bear your evil assemblies. ¹⁴ Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; ¹⁶ wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, ¹⁷ learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. ¹⁸ "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. ¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; ²⁰ but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. ²¹ See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her- but now murderers! ²² Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water. ²³ Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them. ²⁴ Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: "Ah, I will get relief from my foes and avenge myself on my enemies. ²⁵ I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. ²⁶ I will restore your judges as in days of old, your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City." ²⁷ Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness. ²⁸ But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish. ²⁹ "You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen. ³⁰ You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water. ³¹ The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire."

²² She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

¹ Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. ² Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. ³ Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. ⁴ For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. ⁵ Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. ⁶ May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, ⁷ to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, ⁸ to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, ⁹ to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Praise the LORD.

¹ Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. ² Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. ³ Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. ⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. ⁵ Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. ⁶ He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away. ⁷ Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, ⁸ lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, ⁹ you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, ¹⁰ wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, ¹¹ kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, ¹² young men and maidens, old men and children. ¹³ Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. ¹⁴ He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the LORD.

¹⁷ The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.

¹ O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. ³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. ⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. ⁵ You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. ⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. ¹¹ If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," ¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. ¹³ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. ¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, ¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. ¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! ¹⁸ Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. ¹⁹ If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! ²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. ²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? ²² I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. ²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. ²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. ² Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. ³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. ⁴ to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. ⁵ who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. ⁶ who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. ⁷ who made the great lights- His love endures forever. ⁸ the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. ⁹ the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever. ¹⁰ to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever. ¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them His love endures forever. ¹² with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever. ¹³ to him who divided the Red Sea asunder His love endures forever. ¹⁴ and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever. ¹⁵ but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever. ¹⁶ to him who led his people through the desert, His love endures forever. ¹⁷ who struck down great kings, His love endures forever. ¹⁸ and killed mighty kings- His love endures forever. ¹⁹ Sihon king of the Amorites His love endures forever. ²⁰ and Og king of Bashan- His love endures forever. ²¹ and gave their land as an inheritance, His love endures forever. ²² an inheritance to his servant Israel; His love endures forever. ²³ to the One who remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever. ²⁴ and freed us from our enemies, His love endures forever. ²⁵ and who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever. ²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

¹ If the LORD had not been on our side- let Israel say- ² if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, ³ when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; ⁴ the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, ⁵ the raging waters would have swept us away. ⁶ Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. ⁷ We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. ⁸ Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. ² Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. ³ Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. ⁴ Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. ⁵ Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, ⁶ O descendants of Abraham his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. ⁷ He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. ⁸ He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations, ⁹ the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. ¹⁰ He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: ¹¹ "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit." ¹² When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, ¹³ they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. ¹⁴ He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: ¹⁵ "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." ¹⁶ He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; ¹⁷ and he sent a man before them- Joseph, sold as a slave. ¹⁸ They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, ¹⁹ till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true. ²⁰ The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free. ²¹ He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, ²² to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom. ²³ Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham. ²⁴ The LORD made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes, ²⁵ whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants. ²⁶ He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. ²⁷ They performed his miraculous signs among them, his wonders in the land of Ham. ²⁸ He sent darkness and made the land dark- for had they not rebelled against his words? ²⁹ He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die. ³⁰ Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers. ³¹ He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country. ³² He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land; ³³ he struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country. ³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number; ³⁵ they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil. ³⁶ Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood. ³⁷ He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered. ³⁸ Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them. ³⁹ He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night. ⁴⁰ They asked, and he brought them quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. ⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out; like a river it flowed in the desert. ⁴² For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham. ⁴³ He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy; ⁴⁴ he gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for- ⁴⁵ that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws. Praise the LORD.

⁵ He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.

⁵ Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.

⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy;

¹⁰ Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns." The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.

¹ The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." ³ Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. ⁴ He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. ⁵ You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. ⁷ A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. ⁸ You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. ⁹ If you make the Most High your dwelling- even the LORD, who is my refuge- ¹⁰ then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. ¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; ¹² they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. ¹³ You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. ¹⁴ "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. ¹⁵ He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. ¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

³ When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm. Selah

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. ² He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. ³ He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. ⁴ Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. ⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. ⁶ Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced,; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. ⁷ Then I said, "Here I am, I have come- it is written about me in the scroll. ⁸ I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." ⁹ I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O LORD. ¹⁰ I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly. ¹¹ Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD; may your love and your truth always protect me. ¹² For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. ¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me. ¹⁴ May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. ¹⁵ May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!" be appalled at their own shame. ¹⁶ But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!" ¹⁷ Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.

² In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal.

⁸ Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.